Novel smart software technologies for medical informatics

大多数雇员在工作中使用电脑。这些用户用来完成任务的软件系统通常可以改进，以便在适当的时间以最少的努力只提供所需的信息。利用计算机及其软件为用户方便地进行这些操作被称为电子性能支持系统（EPSS）。虽然大多数EPSS可以很容易地定制以适合个人（例如，在网页浏览器中扩大字体），但EPSS本身在发生变化时适应公司信息源的能力非常差- -通常需要安装新的软件信息管理系统，以及由此带来的所有中断。公司非常了解变更管理的概念。之前的研究已经说明了适应性EPSS的可行性，本提案将这项工作继续应用于医学信息学领域，更具体地说，是不断变化的个人电子健康记录，其中有许多不同的知识来源不兼容，如MR/CT图像及其分析、医生的临床测试结果等。EPSS的主要特性是将信息分发给个人，以便进行自我评估，并在关键决策情况下更好地提供数据。要做到这一点，EPSS必须将多种类型的知识转化为对个人有用的形式；也就是说，我们必须在某种形式的软件中容纳许多不同类型的信息。由于EPSS是基于软件代理的，因此添加新的知识源只需要创建新的软件代理。添加代理不需要以任何方式停止或重新发布软件。就像通过雇佣专家为公司增加专业知识来提供新的公司能力一样，EPSS可以动态地适应扩展其知识库的需求，而无需停止或离线更新系统。最后，将EPSS迁移到WWW将产生一个非常强大的医疗患者门户设施。

Most employees utilize computers in their duties. The software systems with which these users accomplish their tasks can often be improved to provide only the information that is needed, at the appropriate time, with a minimum of effort. Employing the computer and its software to facilitate these operations for the user is termed an Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS). While most EPSS can be readily customized to suit an individual (for instance, font enlargement in a web browser) the ability of the EPSS itself to adapt to the corporate information sources when changes occur, is very poor - usually requiring the installation of a new software information management system and all the disruption which that entails. Companies are very aware of the notion of change management. Previous research done here has illustrated the viability of an adaptable EPSS and this proposal continues this work with application to the area of medical informatics and more specifically the ever-changing individual electronic health record, within which, there are many disparate knowledge sources that are not compatible, such as MR/CT images and their analyses, physician's clinical test results, and so on. The main property of the EPSS is to dispense information to the individual to allow self-assessments and better provide data involved in critical decision-making situations. To do this, the EPSS must translate knowledge of many types into a form that is useful for the individual; that is, we must accommodate the many different types of information in some form of software. Because the EPSS is based on software agents, the addition of a new knowledge source only requires the creation of a new software agent. Adding the agent does not require the software to be stopped or reissued in any manner. Much like adding expertise to a corporation by hiring experts that will provide a new corporate capability, the EPSS can dynamically accommodate the need to expand its knowledge bases without the need to stop or update the system off-line. Finally, migrating the EPSS to the WWW would produce a very powerful medical patient portal facility.