title: Temporal-abstraction mechanisms in management of clinical protocols.
abstract: We have identified several general temporal-abstraction mechanisms needed for reasoning about time-stamped data, such as are needed in management of patients being treated on clinical protocols: simple temporal abstraction (a mechanism for abstracting several parameter values into one class), temporal inference (a mechanism for inferring sound logical conclusions over a single interval or two meeting intervals), and temporal interpolation (a mechanism for bridging non-meeting temporal intervals). Making explicit the knowledge required for temporal abstractions supports the acquisition of planning knowledge, the identification of clinical problems, and the formulation of clinical-management-plan revisions.
authors.affiliation: Section on Medical Informatics, Stanford University School of Medicine, California 94305-5479.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shahar
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Musen
mesh_terms: D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D005103:Expert Systems; D011340:Problem Solving