Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.

This User’s Guide is intended to support the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, and quality evaluation of registries created to increase understanding of patient outcomes. For the purposes of this guide, a patient registry is an organized system that uses observational study methods to collect uniform data (clinical and other) to evaluate specified outcomes for a population defined by a particular disease, condition, or exposure, and that serves one or more predetermined scientific, clinical, or policy purposes. A registry database is a file (or files) derived from the registry. Although registries can serve many purposes, this guide focuses on registries created for one or more of the following purposes: to describe the natural history of disease, to determine clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of health care products and services, to measure or monitor safety and harm, and/or to measure quality of care. Registries are classified according to how their populations are defined. For example, product registries include patients who have been exposed to biopharmaceutical products or medical devices. Health services registries consist of patients who have had a common procedure, clinical encounter, or hospitalization. Disease or condition registries are defined by patients having the same diagnosis, such as cystic fibrosis or heart failure. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews.

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) in medicine is the result of a large amount of effort expended in the interface of medicine and computer science. As some CAD systems in medicine try to emulate the diagnostic decision-making process of medical experts, they can be considered as expert systems in medicine.

This interdisciplinary book primarily introduces a novel algorithm that finally enables computers to efficiently diagnose diseases

With the development of rapidly increasing medical imaging modalities and their applications, the need for computers and computing in image generation, processing, visualization, archival, transmission, modeling, and analysis has grown substantially. Computers are being integrated into almost every medical imaging system. Medical Image Analysis and Informatics demonstrates how quantitative analysis becomes possible by the application of computational procedures to medical images. Furthermore, it shows how quantitative and objective analysis facilitated by medical image informatics, CBIR, and CAD could lead to improved diagnosis by physicians. Whereas CAD has become a part of the clinical workflow in the detection of breast cancer with mammograms, it is not yet established in other applications. CBIR is an alternative and complementary approach for image retrieval based on measures derived from images, which could also facilitate CAD. This book shows how digital image processing techniques can assist in quantitative analysis of medical images, how pattern recognition and classification techniques can facilitate CAD, and how CAD systems can assist in achieving efficient diagnosis, in designing optimal treatment protocols, in analyzing the effects of or response to treatment, and in clinical management of various conditions. The book affirms that medical imaging, medical image analysis, medical image informatics, CBIR, and CAD are proven as well as essential techniques for health care.

Classification Techniques for Medical Image Analysis and Computer Aided Diagnosis covers the most current advances on how to apply classification techniques to a wide variety of clinical applications that are appropriate for researchers and biomedical engineers in the areas of machine learning, deep learning, data analysis, data management and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems design. The book covers several complex image classification problems using pattern recognition methods, including Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Bayesian Networks (BN) and deep learning. Further, numerous data mining techniques are discussed, as they have proven to be good classifiers for medical images. - Examines the methodology of classification of medical images that covers the taxonomy of both supervised and unsupervised models, algorithms, applications and challenges - Discusses recent advances in Artificial Neural Networks, machine learning, and deep learning in clinical applications - Introduces several techniques for medical image processing and analysis for CAD systems design

This open access book comprehensively covers the fundamentals of clinical data science, focusing on data collection, modelling and clinical applications. Topics covered in the first section on data collection include: data sources, data at scale (big data), data stewardship (FAIR data) and related privacy concerns. Aspects of predictive modelling using techniques such as classification, regression or clustering, and prediction model validation will be covered in the second section. The third section covers aspects of (mobile) clinical decision support systems, operational excellence and value-based healthcare. Fundamentals of Clinical Data Science is an essential resource for healthcare professionals and IT consultants intending to develop and refine their skills in personalized medicine, using solutions based on large datasets from electronic health records or telemonitoring programmes. The book’s promise is “no math, no code”and will explain the topics in a style that is optimized for a healthcare audience.