Development of a case-based system for grouping diagnoses in general practice

• Published in: International journal of medical informatics (Shannon, Ireland) Vol. 77; no. 7; pp. 431 - 439
• Main Authors: Biermans, Marion C.J, de Bakker, Dinny H, Verheij, Robert A, Gravestein, Jan V, van der Linden, Michiel W, de Vries Robbé, Pieter F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-07-2008
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Classification; Computerised medical record; Decision Support Systems, Clinical - organization & administration; Diagnosis-Related Groups - organization & administration; Epidemiology; Episode of care; Family practice; Family Practice - methods; Family Practice - organization & administration; Internal Medicine; Medical Records Systems, Computerized - organization & administration; Netherlands; Other; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Netherlands; Episode of care; Epidemiology; Artificial intelligence; Computerised medical record; Classification; Family practice
• ISSN: 1386-5056; 1872-8243
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2007.08.002

Abstract Introduction This article describes the development of EPICON; an application to group ICPC-coded diagnoses from electronic medical records in general practice into episodes of care. These episodes can be used to estimate prevalence and incidence rates. Methods We used data from 89 practices that participated in the Dutch National Survey of General Practice. Additionally, we held interviews with seven experts, and studied documentation to establish the requirements of the application and to develop the design. We then performed a formative evaluation by assessing incorrectly grouped diagnoses. Results EPICON is based on a combination of logical expressions, a decision table, and information extracted from individual cases by case-based reasoning. EPICON is able to group all diagnoses in the selected 89 practices, and groups 95% correctly. Conclusion The results cautiously indicate that EPICONs performance will probably be adequate for the purpose of estimating morbidity rates in general practice.