Caring for the dying: why is it so hard for physicians?

Caring for the dying: why is it so hard for physicians?

One of the most revered obligations of a physician is to alleviate human suffering, particularly when death is imminent and the indignities of illness consume every waking minute. Lamentably, physicians all too often fail to address the terminal nature of patients’ diseases and instead offer therapies that in all likelihood will not prolong life and, in many instances, may generate additional s...

Clinical terminology: why is it so hard?

Despite years of work, no re-usable clinical terminology has yet been demonstrated in widespread use. This paper puts forward ten reasons why developing such terminologies is hard. All stem from underestimating the change entailed in using terminology in software for 'patient centred' systems rather than for its traditional functions of statistical and financial reporting. Firstly, the increase...

What Is Software Testing ? And Why Is It So Hard ?

■ The user executed untested code. Because of time constraints, it’s not uncommon for developers to release untested code—code in which users can stumble across bugs. ■ The order in which statements were executed in actual use differed from that during testing. This order can determine whether software works or fails. ■ The user applied a combination of untested input values. The possible input...

The Health Record - why is it so hard?

Why Is It So Hard to Define Software Architecture?

In recent years, software engineering researchers have elevated the study of software architecture to the level of a major area of study. A review of the published literature however, shows quite clearly that a unified view of software architecture has not been forth-coming. This paper contends that the existence of a "software architecture level of design" is based on the implicit assumption t...