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Research Article| Volume 12, ISSUE 2, P351-386, June 1992

Methods to Evaluate and Develop the Decision Process in the Selection of Tests

  • Eugene W. Rypka
    Correspondence
    Address reprint requests to: Eugene W. Rypka, PhD, Department of Laboratories, Lovelace Laboratories, Inc., 5400 Gibson Blvd, SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108
    Affiliations
    From the University of New Mexico; and Lovelace Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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      An objective, comprehensive method is described for organizing medical information that determines the most useful and sufficient test sets for separating diseases. The system is purposive, i.e., both its means and ends are known and tests results can be correlated with patient outcomes. The method is based on levels of information, probability and uncertainty and on measurement of comprehension and effectiveness. As the number of diseases in the system increases, the probability of their message sources decreases, which results in an increase in uncertainty. Resolution of uncertainty results in the diagnosis. Methods of reducing computational time are presented in this article.
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