title: Methods, architecture, evaluation and usability of a case-based antibiotics advisor.
abstract: In this paper, we discuss the usability of an antibiotics therapy adviser, with a broad, complex spectrum of functions which we have developed within the ICONS project. We present the architecture of the system, case-based reasoning methods used, steps and results of medical evaluations, which are concerning the quality of the recommended therapies, the user friendliness of the system and the interpretation of laboratory results. Furthermore, we discuss problems of transferability of such a system from one site to another as well as problems of local susceptibility patterns and individual dose regimens.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometry, University of Rostock, Rembrandtstrasse 16/17, D-18055 Rostock, Germany. lothar.gierl@medzin.uni-rostock.de
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gierl
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Steffen
authors.forename: Dusan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ihracky
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D004360:Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D005103:Expert Systems; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents