Doctors Turn to Isabel for Answers
Physicians in 18 hospitals are getting some assistance with diagnosing difficult cases thanks to an interesting piece of information technology known as Isabel.
Isabel is a web-based decision support system that generates a list of possible conditions based on information provided about a patient’s particular symptoms. The tool was developed by Dr Joseph Britto to improve the speed and accuracy of the diagnostic process by decreasing the reliance on individual memory. When justifying the need for Isabel, Britto points out that a correct diagnosis can often hinge on a doctor recalling a crucial piece of information he or she learned years ago in medical school or read in a journal months ago.
Some concerns about the use of medical information searches in a hospital setting have been raised, but doctors who have used the tool emphasize that Isabel is merely another aid in the decision-making process. It is not replacing the clinical judgment of a medical professional who has personally met with the patient. As one physician put it,
“Certainly it will never take the place of judgment. There’s still a lot that you can learn about an individual patient just by walking into the room and seeing the look on their face, or by placing your hand on their forehead.”
Napoleon Knight
Physician, Carle Foundation Hospital
According to the American Medical Informatics Association, interest in decision support systems is on the rise in the medical community. Isabel costs about $50,000 a year for a typical 300 bed hospital and comes highly rated by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
Source: ABC News
Related Links: The Cavalier Daily; Forbes; East African Business Week; Medical Matrix; Archives of Disease in Childhood
Related Podcast: Dr Groopman on NPR
Tags: diagnosing cancer; University of Virginia Children’s Hospital; bioinformatics
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