An ICU protocol development and management system

Patient care is commonly managed by clinicians using general guidelines or specific protocols. Acute, severe illness may require care in an intensive care unit (ICU), with many aspects of care managed concurrently. Variation of aspects of care among patients, clinicians, ICUs and institutions is well-known, and is due to a lack of standardization in clinical decision making and the inability to implement detailed, patient-responsive protocols. Automation of protocols for specific aspects of care using computing technology and medical informatics/knowledge engineering principles offers a consistent, systematic way to implement a protocol by prompting bedside clinicians in a timely manner monitoring a patient's responses to therapeutic interventions, and monitoring the decision logic used. This paper describes a new generic system for the design and implementation of computerized protocols.