Clinical decision analysis by personal computer

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Clinical Decision Making
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Clinical decision analysis is valuable but computationally intensive for physicians.
• Physician burden impedes the widespread application of decision analysis tools.
• Existing methods for sensitivity analysis are difficult and time-consuming.

Observation:

• A personal computer program was developed to aid physicians in decision analysis.
• The program guides users through constructing and analyzing decision trees.
• It simplifies the performance of sensitivity analysis for probability and utility data.

Findings:

• The program effectively shifts the calculational burden from physicians to computers.
• Users including senior physicians, fellows, and students successfully analyzed complex patient treatment problems.
• Rapid and convenient assessment of trade-offs between clinical variables is now possible.

Implications:

• This technology can overcome a major barrier to clinical decision analysis adoption.
• Facilitates deeper clinical insights previously difficult to obtain.
• Potential to improve the quality and efficiency of medical decision-making.