Clinical Pathway Support System

Different clinicians may do the same work in different ways, depending on their preferences and level of expertise. The nature and amount of clinical support required also varies with the knowledge level of the clinician: novice clinicians may require guidance at each and every stage of the process, while experienced clinicians like to have a free hand and need guidance only when in doubt. We describe a descriptive support system, where guidance is provided only when asked, rather than actively prescribing a list of actions at every stage of the clinical process. The system infers the state of the clinical pathway for a patient by examining the state of information in the Electronic Record that is created or modified during the patient treatment process, therefore, the clinician does not have to notify the system of every action he does while treating a patient, but the system can keep track of patient treatment so that appropriate guidance can be provided when needed.