title: Knowledge management as a decision support method: a diagnostic workup strategy application.
abstract: We have explored the potential of a computer-based approach called "knowledge management" to aid in clinical problem solving and education. The major features of the approach are its ability to support flexible and immediate access by a user to relevant knowledge and annotation and organization of the knowledge for personal use and subsequent retrieval. We illustrate this approach with its application to diagnostic workup strategy problems. In this application, knowledge may be in the form of static narrative text, diagrams, pictures, graphs, tables, flow charts, or bibliographic citations. Other more dynamic forms of knowledge may be the result of simulations, "what if" analyses or modeling, quantitative mathematical or statistical calculation, or heuristic inference. User assessment has demonstrated the system's ease of use and user perception of its desirability, but underscores the need for a "critical mass" of knowledge before such an approach will be widely utilized.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Greenes
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Tarabar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wolnik
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cope
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Slosser
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hersh
mesh_terms: D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005103:Expert Systems; D006801:Humans; D008501:Medical Records, Problem-Oriented; D014584:User-Computer Interface