KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION FOR MULTIPLE-SITE, RELATED DOMAIN EXPERT-SYSTEMS - DELPHI PROCESS AND APPLICATION

Prerequisite to the development of an expert system is the identificat ion of relevant knowledge and expertise. This research explores a Delp hi-based approach for managing a portion of the knowledge acquisition process with multiple, geographically dispersed experts. The general c ontext in which the methodology is useful and beneficial, the multiple site, related domain problem, is defined and discussed. An instance o f a multiple site, related domain application, hospital operating room scheduling, is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. T hirty five domain experts were engaged in a Delphi process that enable d the creation of a global model of knowledge for operating room sched uling. The resulting model is asserted to be applicable at virtually a ny hospital site by nature of the way the knowledge is identified and structured. The generality of the knowledge base is novel vis-a-vis th e traditional paradigm of custom development typically associated with knowledge acquisition and knowledge bases. The model was successfully validated using two hospitals, one whose operating room Director part icipated in the Delphi study and one whose Director did not. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd