Biomedical subjects

R L Rouse

Publications and source records attributed to R L Rouse.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1994

Morphing as a means of generating variation in visual medical teaching materials.

In computer-based medical education, there is frequently a need to present students with pictorial data representative of the natural variation associated with disease presentations as well as the progression of disease within an individual. Because of the difficulty in acquiring such data, image acquisition is often the most resource-intensive phase of multimedia courseware development. In light of the resource demands associated with image content, many courseware designers do not make opportune use of image data, but rely instead upon text descriptions to provide variation in content. The resulting lack of adequate pictorial content often lessens the overall impact of the courseware. To overcome constraints imposed by the difficulty in acquiring pictorial content of sufficient richness, a methodology of generating variation in visual teaching materials has been developed through the use of morphing. These techniques have general applicability in creating variation in pictorial teaching materials in a variety of image-intensive domains.

Ascites↗

PubMed1994

Data qualification: logic analysis applied toward neural network training.

For neural networks to develop good internal representations for pattern mapping, noise in the training set data must be controlled. Because of the many difficulties associated with manually validating training data, we have focused on using decision table techniques as a practical, domain-independent means of optimizing training set formulation. Decision tables provide a variety of mechanisms whereby training set data can be processed to remove ambiguity, contradictions, and other noise. In addition to serving as data filters, decision tables can be used in the evaluation of neural network training.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1994

The representation of time in clinical patient simulations.

Simulated clinical scenarios are generally compressed in time to enhance educational effectiveness and to minimize testing time. Designers should consider how to best control potential sources of distortion in the perception of time and how to best communicate the passage of time to the user.

Computer Simulation↗

PubMed1992

Enhancing the Metathesaurus with clinically relevant concepts: anatomic representations.

To create a comprehensive taxonomy for medical concepts it is necessary to identify gaps and reconcile differences that exist between clinical, bibliographic, and other source vocabularies. As part of the Unified Medical Language System project, we have proposed enhancements to the Metathesaurus by the inclusion of terms from two source vocabularies with different unique perspectives or views. This process has disclosed a number of issues that arise as complexity increases. These issues must be resolved if the resultant Metathesaurus is to support the variety of uses for which it is intended.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

PubMed1991

Composing user models through logic analysis.

The evaluation of tutorial strategies, interface designs, and courseware content is an area of active research in the medical education community. Many of the evaluation techniques that have been developed (e.g., program instrumentation), commonly produce data that are difficult to decipher or to interpret effectively. We have explored the use of decision tables to automatically simplify and categorize data for the composition of user models--descriptions of student's learning styles and preferences. An approach to user modeling that is based on decision tables has numerous advantages compared with traditional manual techniques or methods that rely on rule-based expert systems or neural networks. Decision tables provide a mechanism whereby overwhelming quantities of data can be condensed into an easily interpreted and manipulated form. Compared with conventional rule-based expert systems, decision tables are more amenable to modification. Unlike classification systems based on neural networks, the entries in decision tables are readily available for inspection and manipulation. Decision tables, descriptions of observations of behavior, also provide automatic checks for ambiguity in the tracking data.

Decision Making↗

PubMed1990

Universal New York Health Care. A single-payer strategy linking cost control and universal access.

Now that universal access to health care is back on the governmental agenda, elected officials are faced with the dilemma of expanding our present pluralistic system of numerous private and public payers, with its built-in administrative inefficiencies and inflationary pressures, or scrapping the present system of financing and moving to a tax-based scheme like the Canadian Medicare program, an option fraught with political difficulties. There is, however, a third option. The New York State Department of Health has developed a proposal for universal access--Universal New York Health Care, or UNY-Care--that would retain the existing payers, including employer-based insurance coverage, but combine them in a one-payer framework. Providers would no longer have to interact with the many public and private payers, each with its own rules, criteria, and levels of payment. The single payer would serve as the only payer for most health care services and would also negotiate reimbursement rates. The single-payer framework should bring savings in administrative and billing costs and should move government closer to the goal of buying health care services--getting good value for payment rendered--rather than simply paying bills as they are submitted. Although the single-payer strategy could be implemented at either the state or the federal level, it seems ideal as the principal responsibility of the states in a national plan for universal coverage.

Cost Control↗

PubMed1987

Methods for developing relative need criteria to accompany a health care capital expenditure limit.

In recent years capital spending in the health care industry has escalated tremendously, and most forecasters agree that needs will increase at an even faster rate throughout the 1990s. As a result of this trend, there is a dire need to develop effective and equitable controls on capital spending in health care. One of the capital payment options under consideration is the establishment of a lid on capital expenditures and the concomitant allocation of capital to health care providers whose applications are the most meritorious. The purpose of this article is to present some ideas and methods for the development of a relative need system to accompany a capital expenditure limit and to supplement and expand the absolute need determinations of the typical CON process.

Capital Expenditures↗