Knowledge Acquisition Process for Intelligent Decision Support in Critical Health Care

An efficient triage system is a good way to avoid some future problems and benefit the patient. However, a limitation still exists. The triage system is general and not specific to each case. Manchester Triage System is a reliable known system and is focused in the emergency department of a hospital. When applied to specific patients’ conditions (such as pregnancy), it has several limitations. To overcome those limitations, an alternative triage system, integrated into an intelligent decision support system, was developed. The system classifies patients according to the severity of their clinical condition, establishing clinical priorities and not diagnosis. According to the urgency of attendance or problem type, it suggests one of three possible categories of the triage. This chapter presents the overall knowledge acquisition cycle associated with the workflow of patient arrival and the inherent decision making process. Results show that this new approach enhances the efficiency and the safety through the appropriate use of resources and by assisting the right patient in the right place, reducing the waiting triage time and the number in general urgency. Knowledge Acquisition Process for Intelligent Decision Support in Critical Health Care Filipe Portela University of Minho, Portugal Alexandra Cabral SPMS, Portugal António Abelha University of Minho, Portugal Maria Salazar Centro Hospitalar do Porto – HSA, Portugal César Quintas Centro Hospitalar do Porto – HSA, Portugal José Machado University of Minho, Portugal José Neves University of Minho, Portugal Manuel Filipe Santos University of Minho, Portugal DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6339-8.ch015