ON THE HEURISTIC NATURE OF MEDICAL DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEMS

In the realm of medical decision-support systems, the term ''heuristic systems'' is often considered to be synonymous with ''medical artific ial intelligence systems'' or with ''systems employing informal model( s) of problem solving''. Such a view may be inaccurate and possibly im pede the conceptual development of future systems, This article examin es the nature of heuristics and the levels at which heuristic solution s are introduced during system design and implementation, The authors discuss why heuristics are ubiquitous in all medical decision-support systems operating at non-trivial domains, and propose a unifying defin ition of heuristics that encompasses formal and ad hoc systems, System developers should be aware of the heuristic nature of all problem sol ving done Tn complex real world domains, and characterize their own us e of heuristics in describing system development and implementation.