Design of Activation Functions for Inference of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: Application to Clinical Decision Making in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Infection / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) representing causal knowledge of relationships between medical concepts have been used as prediction tools for clinical decision making. Activation functions used for inferences of FCMs are very important factors in helping physicians make correct decision. Therefore, in order to increase the visibility of inference results, we propose a method for designing certain types of activation functions by considering the characteristics of FCMs. METHODS: The activation functions, such as the sinusoidal-type function and linear function, are designed by calculating the domain range of the functions to be reached during the inference process of FCMs. Moreover, the designed activation functions were applied to the decision making process with the inference of an FCM model representing the causal knowledge of pulmonary infections. RESULTS: Even though sinusoidal-type functions oscillate and linear functions monotonously increase within the entire range of the domain, the designed activation functions make the inference stable because the proposed method notices where the function is used in the inference. And, the designed functions provide more visible numeric results than do other functions. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing inference results derived using activation functions designed with the proposed method and results derived using activation functions designed with the existing method, we confirmed that the proposed method could be more appropriately used for designing activation functions for the inference process of an FCM for clinical decision making.

Design of Activation Functions for Inference of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: Application to Clinical Decision Making in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Infection / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) representing causal knowledge of relationships between medical concepts have been used as prediction tools for clinical decision making. Activation functions used for inferences of FCMs are very important factors in helping physicians make correct decision. Therefore, in order to increase the visibility of inference results, we propose a method for designing certain types of activation functions by considering the characteristics of FCMs. METHODS: The activation functions, such as the sinusoidal-type function and linear function, are designed by calculating the domain range of the functions to be reached during the inference process of FCMs. Moreover, the designed activation functions were applied to the decision making process with the inference of an FCM model representing the causal knowledge of pulmonary infections. RESULTS: Even though sinusoidal-type functions oscillate and linear functions monotonously increase within the entire range of the domain, the designed activation functions make the inference stable because the proposed method notices where the function is used in the inference. And, the designed functions provide more visible numeric results than do other functions. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing inference results derived using activation functions designed with the proposed method and results derived using activation functions designed with the existing method, we confirmed that the proposed method could be more appropriately used for designing activation functions for the inference process of an FCM for clinical decision making.

Development of an Electronic Claim System Based on an Integrated Electronic Health Record Platform to Guarantee Interoperability / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: We design and develop an electronic claim system based on an integrated electronic health record (EHR) platform. This system is designed to be used for ambulatory care by office-based physicians in the United States. This is achieved by integrating various medical standard technologies for interoperability between heterogeneous information systems. METHODS: The developed system serves as a simple clinical data repository, it automatically fills out the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-1500 form based on information regarding the patients and physicians' clinical activities. It supports electronic insurance claims by creating reimbursement charges. It also contains an HL7 interface engine to exchange clinical messages between heterogeneous devices. RESULTS: The system partially prevents physician malpractice by suggesting proper treatments according to patient diagnoses and supports physicians by easily preparing documents for reimbursement and submitting claim documents to insurance organizations electronically, without additional effort by the user. To show the usability of the developed system, we performed an experiment that compares the time spent filling out the CMS-1500 form directly and time required create electronic claim data using the developed system. From the experimental results, we conclude that the system could save considerable time for physicians in making claim documents. CONCLUSIONS: The developed system might be particularly useful for those who need a reimbursement-specialized EHR system, even though the proposed system does not completely satisfy all criteria requested by the CMS and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). This is because the criteria are not sufficient but necessary condition for the implementation of EHR systems. The system will be upgraded continuously to implement the criteria and to offer more stable and transparent transmission of electronic claim data.

The Development of a Graphical User Interface Engine for the Convenient Use of the HL7 Version 2.x Interface Engine / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: The Health Level Seven Interface Engine (HL7 IE), developed by Kyungpook National University, has been employed in health information systems, however users without a background in programming have reported difficulties in using it. Therefore, we developed a graphical user interface (GUI) engine to make the use of the HL7 IE more convenient. METHODS: The GUI engine was directly connected with the HL7 IE to handle the HL7 version 2.x messages. Furthermore, the information exchange rules (called the mapping data), represented by a conceptual graph in the GUI engine, were transformed into program objects that were made available to the HL7 IE; the mapping data were stored as binary files for reuse. The usefulness of the GUI engine was examined through information exchange tests between an HL7 version 2.x message and a health information database system. RESULTS: Users could easily create HL7 version 2.x messages by creating a conceptual graph through the GUI engine without requiring assistance from programmers. In addition, time could be saved when creating new information exchange rules by reusing the stored mapping data. CONCLUSIONS: The GUI engine was not able to incorporate information types (e.g., extensible markup language, XML) other than the HL7 version 2.x messages and the database, because it was designed exclusively for the HL7 IE protocol. However, in future work, by including additional parsers to manage XML-based information such as Continuity of Care Documents (CCD) and Continuity of Care Records (CCR), we plan to ensure that the GUI engine will be more widely accessible for the health field.

Proposed Algorithm with Standard Terminologies (SNOMED and CPT) for Automated Generation of Medical Bills for Laboratory Tests / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we proposed an algorithm for mapping standard terminologies for the automated generation of medical bills. As the Korean and American structures of health insurance claim codes for laboratory tests are similar, we used Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) instead of the Korean health insurance code set due to the advantages of mapping in the English language. METHODS: 1,149 CPT codes for laboratory tests were chosen for study. Each CPT code was divided into two parts, a Logical Observation Identifi ers Names and Codes (LOINC) matched part (matching part) and an unmatched part (unmatched part). The matching parts were assigned to LOINC axes. An ontology set was designed to express the unmatched parts, and a mapping strategy with Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) was also proposed. Through the proceeding analysis, an algorithm for mapping CPT with SNOMED CT arranged by LOINC was developed. RESULTS: 75% of the 1,149 CPT codes could be assigned to LOINC codes. Two hundred and twenty-five CPT codes had only one component part of LOINC, whereas others had more than two parts of LOINC. The system of LOINC axes was found in 309 CPT codes, scale 555, property 9, method 42, and time aspect 4. From the unmatched parts, three classes, 'types', 'objects', and 'subjects', were determined. By determining the relationship between the classes with several properties, all unmatched parts could be described. Since the 'subject to' class was strongly connected to the six axes of LOINC, links between the matching parts and unmatched parts were made. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method may be useful for translating CPT into concept-oriented terminology, facilitating the automated generation of medical bills, and could be adapted for the Korean health insurance claim code set.

Developing a Smart Phone Application for the OMAHA System Guidelines

PURPOSE: The remarkable progress in information and communication technology has had a great effect on the healthcare delivery system. The development of smart phone applications is a new field. The aim of our research was to provide assistance in developing smart phone applications for community health nursing. METHODS: Based on an informative approach, this study developed persona and site maps, followed by a storyboard as a way of analyzing users' requirements and designing responses in the context of smart phone application development methodology. RESULTS: We developed persona, user interface and database design successfully, and then seven nurses selected four nursing problems (income, residence, pain, and digestion hydration). The search time in seconds for the 2005 English OMAHA guidelines to find three nursing interventions for these problems was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the smart phone application. The results showed that smart phone applications' search was 21 times faster on the average than book guidelines. CONCLUSION: An English version of the OMAHA system application was developed for the Android smart phone market. It is hoped that smart phone applications such as this will be used internationally for nursing education.