Their common feature is the recognition that many clinical events are probabilistic in nature. Recently, decision trees and utility analyses are gaining acceptance as methods to incorporate the patients' preferences in clinical decisions. If the physician has to enter the data, the system use needs sophistication, and interpretation of the output requires caution, the decision-support system has no chance for success. It is important that new systems quickly and smoothly become integrated with the usual processes of care. The information systems of Intermountain Health Care in Utah and the Regenstrief Institute in Indiana are examples of gradual and successful integration.
Patients can get electronic mail advice.
Clinicians are sharing information about challenging cases to get input from others. While distant sources of information are increasingly available, practitioners have to learn the judicious use of the new technology. This newly emerging field brings together the areas of molecular biology and the genome projects. Students will be exposed to the management of data which represents encoded information about nucleotide sequences and their representation, storage and searching. Springer-Verlag, New York.