COMPUTER AIDS TO CLINICAL TREATMENT EVALUATION.

The growing abundance of therapeutic alternatives can present exceedingly complex sequences of medical treatment decisions and treatment plans. Extensive and systematic clinical treatment evaluation, which necessarily involves the aid of electronic computers, is indicated in the solution to these problems. The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss precise mathematical formulations of these problems and to describe computer aids to their solution. First, the use of dynamic programming is discussed as an approach to the mathematical formulation of the diagnostic-treatment cycle. Then the use of Bayes' formula will be discussed as an aid to the collection of treatment-evaluation data. Finally, a computer system for an outpatient clinic is described. It is important to note that although we suggest basic mathematical characterizations of these problems, each particular medical specialty, and frequently each particular treatment, requires specific adaptations of the methods in order to take care of special problems that frequently arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]