Patient record presentation in a hierarchically based medical expert system

An algorithm was developed to improve the display of the patient record in the Iliad expert system. The functional improvements in the display include the following features: 1) organization by category (history, physical exam), 2) indentation to distinguish levels of the dictionary term, 3) bold display of positive findings, 4) determination of abnormal laboratory values, 5) introduction of negative terminology, and 6) ordering of findings by system. This algorithm is completely modular and independent of the underlying functionality of the display window. It would, in fact, be usable by other display windows within the Iliad system or by any expert system with a hierarchical data dictionary. A separate program module was designed in HyperCard to evaluate the improvement in the new display. This module isolates and simulates the relevent parts of the Iliad program for testing purposes. The evaluation showed that the new patient record display had a significant positive influence on the students' performance in terms of accuracy of diagnosis and the ability to recall information. The new patient record display was also found to be more desirable based on subjective responses of the experimental subjects and should consequently increase the usability"" of the Iliad system.""