Integrated decision support in a hospital cancer registry

In this paper we present (a) a shell for integrated knowledge-based functions that is destined to support decision processes of the users of the Giessener Tumordokumentationssystem (GTDS) and (b) some results we obtained during a 6-month observation period at one of the customers of the GTDS. A special characteristic of the provided decision support is the high degree of integration in the underlying information system GTDS, i.e. the functions are triggered by events in the patient database, existing patient data is reused as input for the reasoning process and generated alerts are presented instantly to the end-user. The first routine field of application was supporting registrars to adhere to integrity constraints as defined by the International Agency of Research on Cancer (IARC) during the documentation process. This information is important for the registrars since the checks of the IARC are an accepted standard for data quality in cancer registries. The expected benefit of this application area is less effort in achieving adherence to the specification of the IARC by preventing the costly rectification at a later time. During the last 5 months of the observation period 164 alerts were displayed. About 65% of the assessed alerts were considered to be correct. Especially, the analysis of the incorrect alerts revealed some shortcomings in the knowledge behind some of the integrity constraints of the IARC. The general feedback from the end-users indicate positive user satisfaction. Currently, the shell is in use in six hospital cancer registries.