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Article: A Pillar of Support.(Clinical decision support systems converge with computer-based patient records and clinical guidelines to support caregivers in diagnosing and treating patients.)
- Article from:
- Health Data Management
- Article date:
- August 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Thomson Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Even with all his years of medical education and training, Charles Welford, M.D., was stumped. And fried squirrel was not at the top of his list.
Five years ago, a young man with no history of serious illness was wheeled into the emergency department of the University of Illinois Medical College in Rockford. The man had a fever of 105 degrees and was facing imminent kidney and liver failure. As the patient slipped into a coma, Welford and specialists at the medical center were at a loss. The only diagnosis they could agree upon was a life-threatening bacterial infection without any discernible cause.
Welford turned to the patient's fiance for more ...