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Clinical Decision Support Systems pp 99–125Cite as

Diagnostic Decision Support Systems

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Part of the book series: Health Informatics ((HI))

Abstract

Since primeval times, mankind has attempted to explain natural phenomena using models. For the past four decades, a new kind of modeler, the healthcare informatician, has developed and proliferated a new kind of model, the Clinical Diagnostic Decision Support System (DDSS). Modeling historically was, and still remains, an inexact science. Ptolemy, in the “Almagest,” placed the earth at the center of the universe and could still explain why the sun would rise in the east each morning. Newton’s nonrelativistic formulation of the laws of mechanics works well for earth-bound engineering applications. Past and present DDSS incorporate inexact models of the incompletely understood and exceptionally complex process of clinical diagnosis. Yet mankind, using imperfect models, has built machines that fly, and has cured many diseases. Because DDSS augment the natural capabilities of human diagnosticians, they have the potential to be employed productively.1

Portions of this chapter have been taken verbatim, with permission of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), which owns the copyrights, from: Miller RA, Medical Diagnostic Decision Support Systems—Past, Present, and Future: A Threaded Bibliography and Commentary. J Am Med Inform Assoc 1994;1:8-27; and from Miller RA, Evaluating Evaluations of Medical Diagnostic Systems, J Am Medical Inform Assoc 1996;3:429-431.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA

    Randolph A. Miller MD, FACP, FACMI (Donald A.B. and Mary M. Lindberg University Professor)

  2. Division of Medical Informatics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerlan

    Antoine Geissbuhler MD, FACMI (Professor and Chairman)

Authors
  1. Randolph A. Miller MD, FACP, FACMI
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  2. Antoine Geissbuhler MD, FACMI
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Health Informatics Program Department of Health Services Administration School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA

    Eta S. Berner EdD, FACMI, FHIMSS (Professor) (Professor)

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Miller, R.A., Geissbuhler, A. (2007). Diagnostic Decision Support Systems. In: Berner, E.S. (eds) Clinical Decision Support Systems. Health Informatics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-38319-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-38319-4_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-33914-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-38319-4

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