Abstract
Evaluation is a crucial component in the development of any clinical diagnostic decision support system (CDDSS). Much of it takes place informally as part of the development process and is used by the CDDSS developers for system improvement. Once a system is sufficiently mature, more formal evaluation studies should be done, initially of system accuracy and later, of system impact. A wide range of study design choices can be appropriate for assessing accuracy, but once the CDDSS appears to be ready for use in practice, there is a need for more rigorous evaluation. Most published evaluation studies have focused on the issue of system accuracy, with few studies evaluating the impact of using a CDDSS on clinical care. This chapter will address issues involved in assessing the accuracy of CDDSS. Key results from research or evaluation studies of system accuracy will be summarized and discussed. The reader who is interested in the details of individual studies should read the references at the end of this chapter.
Portions of this chapter have been taken Verbatim, with permission of the Journal of the Irish Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, which owns the copyrights, from: Berner, ES. Computer-assisted diagnosis—consensus and controversies. JICPS 1996; 25:43–47.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bleich HL. Computer evaluation of acid-base disorders. J Clin Invest 1969; 48:1689–1696.
Willems JL, Abreu-Lima C, Arnaud P et al. The diagnostic performance of computer programs for the interpretation of electrocardiograms. N Engl J Med 1991; 325:1767–1773.
de Dombal, FT. The diagnosis of acute abdominal pain with computer assistance: worldwide perspective. Ann Chir 1991; 45:273–277.
Adams ID, Chan M, Clifford PC et al. Computer aided diagnosis of acute abdominal pain: a multicentre study. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986; 293:800–804.
Sutton GC. How accurate is computer-aided diagnosis? Lancet 1989; 2:905–908.
Gough IR. Computer assisted diagnosis of the acute abdomen. Aust N Z J Surg 1993; 63:699–702.
Barnett GO, Cimino JJ, Hupp JA et al. DXplain—an evolving diagnostic decision-support system. JAMA 1987; 258:67–74.
Warner HR Jr. Iliad: moving medical decision-making into new frontiers. Methods Inf Med 1989; 28:370–372.
Waxman HS, Worley WE. Computer-assisted adult medical diagnosis: subject review and evaluation of a new microcomputer-based system. Medicine 1990; 69:125–136.
Weed LL. Knowledge Coupling: New Premises and New Tools for Medical Care and Education. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1991.
Miller R, Masarie FE, Myers J. Quick Medical Reference (QMR) for diagnostic assistance. MD Comput 1986; 3:34–48.
Miller RA. Medical diagnostic decision support systems—past, present, and future: a threaded bibliography and commentary. JAMIA 1994; 1:8–27.
Georgakis DC, Trace DA, Naeymi-Rad F et al. A statistical evaluation of the diagnostic performance of MEDAS—the medical emergency decision assistance system. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care 1990:815–819.
Nelson SJ, Blois MS, Tuttle MS et al. Evaluating RECONSIDER: a computer program for diagnostic prompting. J Med Sys 1985; 9:379–388.
Hammersley JR, Cooney K. Evaluating the utility of available differential diagnosis systems. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care 1988:229–231.
Feldman MJ, Barnett GO. An approach to evaluating the accuracy of DXplain. Comput Methods Programs Biomed 1991; 35:261–266.
Heckerling PS, Elstein AS, Terzian CG et al. The effect of incomplete knowledge on the diagnosis of a computer consultant system. Med Inf 1991; 16:363–370.
Lau LM, Warner HR. Performance of a diagnostic system (Iliad) as a tool for quality assurance. Comput Biomed Res 1992; 25:314–323.
Barness LA, Tunnessen WW Jr, Worley WE et al. Computer-assisted diagnosis in pediatrics. Am J Dis Child 1974; 127:852–858.
O’Shea JS. Computer-assisted pediatric diagnosis. Am J Dis Child 1975; 129:199–202.
Swender PT, Tunnessen WW Jr, Oski FA. Computer-assisted diagnosis. Am J Dis Child 1974; 127:859–861.
Wexler JR, Swender PT, Tunnessen WW Jr et al. Impact of a system of computer-assisted diagnosis. Initial evaluation of the hospitalized patient. Am J Dis Child 1975; 129:203–205.
Bankowitz RA, Lave JR, McNeil MA. A method for assessing the impact of a computer-based decision support system on health care outcomes. Methods Inf Med 1992; 31:3–11.
Bankowitz RA, McNeil MA, Challinor SM et al. A computer-assisted medical diagnostic consultation service: implementation and prospective evaluation of a prototype. Ann Intern Med 1989; 110:824–832.
Bankowitz RA, McNeil MA, Challinor SM et al. Effect of a computer-assisted general medicine diagnostic consultation service on housestaff diagnostic strategy. Methods Inf Med 1989; 28:352–356.
Berman L, Miller RA. Problem area formation as an element of computer aided diagnosis: a comparison of two strategies within quick medical reference (QMR). Methods Inf Med 1991; 30:90–95.
Middleton B, Shwe MA, Heckerman DE et al. Probabilistic diagnosis using a reformulation of the Internist-1/QMR knowledge base. II. Evaluation of diagnostic performance. Methods Inf Med 1991; 30:256–267.
Miller RA, Pople HE Jr, Myers J. Internist-I, an experimental computer-based diagnostic consultant for general internal medicine. N Engl J Med 1982; 307:468–476.
Miller RA, Masarie FE Jr. The quick medical reference (QMR) relationships function: description and evaluation of a simple, efficient “multiple diagnoses” algorithm. Medinfo 1992:512–518.
Miller RA, McNeil MA, Challinor S et al. Status Report: The Internist-1 / Quick Medical Reference project. West J Med 1986; 145:816–822.
Berner ES, Webster GD, Shugerman AA et al. Performance of four computer-based diagnostic systems. N Engl J Med 1994; 330: 1792–1796.
Berner ES, Jackson JR, Algina J. Relationships among performance scores of four diagnostic decision support systems. JAMIA 1996; 3:208–215.
Bankowitz, RA. The effectiveness of QMR in medical decision support. Executive summary and final report. Springfield, VA: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, 1994.
Murphy GC, Friedman CP, Elstein AS. The influence of a decision support system on the differential diagnosis of medical practitioners at three levels of training. Proc AMIA Fall Symp Comput 1996: 219–223.
Elstein AS, Friedman CP, Wolf FM et al. Effects of a decision support system on the diagnostic accuracy of users: a preliminary report. JAMIA 1996; 3:422–428.
Innis MD. Medisets. Computer-assisted diagnosis using a modified set theory. Proc Second Natl Health Conf, Health Informatics Conf, ’94, Gold Coast Australia, 1994, 286–291.
Bacchus CM, Quinton C, O’Rourke K et al. A ramdomized crossover trial of quick medical reference (QMR) as a teaching tool for medical interns. J Gen Intern Med 1994; 9:616–621.
Schoolman HM. Obligations of the expert system builder: meeting the needs of the user. MD Comput 1991; 8:316–321.
Diamond LW. A different view of ILIAD. MD Comput 1992; 9:76–77.
Waxman HS, Worley WE. Computer-assisted diagnosis. Ann Intern Med 1990; 113:561.
Berner ES. The problem with software reviews of decision support systems. MD Comput 1993; 10:8–12.
Kassirer JP. A report card on computer-assisted diagnosis—the grade: C. N Engl J Med 1994; 330:1824–1825.
de Dombal FT. Computer-assisted diagnosis in Europe. N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1238.
Anderson RE, Hill RB, Key CR. The sensitivity and specificity of clinical diagnostics during five decades. JAMA 1989; 261:1610–1617.
Chimowitz MI, Logigian EL, Caplan LR. The accuracy of bedside neurological diagnoses. Ann Neurol 1990; 28:78–87.
Elmore JG, Wells CK, Lee CH et al. Variability in radiologists’ interpretation of mammograms. N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1493–1499.
Mazoue JG. Diagnosis without doctors. J Med Philos 1990; 15: 559–579.
Yolton RL. Computer-based diagnostic systems. N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1023.
Miller RA, Masarie FE Jr. The demise of the “Greek Oracle” model for medical diagnosis systems. Methods Inf Med 1990; 29:1–2.
Miller RA. Why the standard view is standard: people, not machines, understand patients’ problems. J Med Philos 1990; 15:581–591.
Weed LL. Problem-knowledge couplers: Philosophy, use and interpretation. PKC Corporation 1982; pgs. 2–22.
Weed LL. Reengineering medicine: questions and answers. Federation Bull 1995; 82:24–36.
Heathfield HA, Wyatt J. Philosophies for the design and development of clinical decision-support systems. Methods Inf Med 1993; 32:1–8.
Johnston ME, Langton KB, Haynes RB et al. Effects of computer-based clinical decision support systems on clinician performance and patient outcome:a critical appraisal of research. Ann Intern Med 1994; 120:135–142.
Wyatt J, Spiegelhalter D. Field trials of medical decision-aids: potential problems and solutions. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care 1991:3–7.
Miller PL. The evaluation of artificial intelligence systems in medicine. Comput Methods Programs Biomed 1986; 22:5–11.
McAdam WA, Brock BM, Armitage T et al. Twelve years experience of computer-aided diagnosis in a district general hospital. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 1990; 72:140–146.
de Dombal FT. Computer-aided decision support:in praise of level playing fields. Methods Inf Med 1994; 33:161–163.
Berner ES, Maisiak RS. Physician use of interactive functions in diagnostic decision support systems. Proc AMIA Fall Symp 1997; 842.
Miller RA. Evaluating evaluations of medical diagnostic systems. JAMIA 1996; 3:429–431.
Welford CR. A comprehensive computerized patient record with automated linkage to QMR. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care 1994: 814–818.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Berner, E.S. (1999). Testing System Accuracy. In: Berner, E.S. (eds) Clinical Decision Support Systems. Health Informatics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3903-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3903-9_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-3905-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3903-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive