Using the Internet to assist clinical decision making

Clinical decision support systems have undergone major paradigm shifts during the last thirty years (1970-2000), beginning with statistical pattern recognition systems and progressing through knowledge based systems, neural network models, and hybrid systems. The latest challenge is the incorporation of up-to-date information in a field in which information is changing and expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The incorporation of new information involves methods for the evaluation and validation of information as well as means for its incorporation into decision models. Approaches are discussed that have shown early promise in addressing the issues that are crucial for the efficient and effective delivery of health care in the twenty-first century