Computerized Differential Diagnosis Assists Physicians Identify Disease

A differential diagnosis generator (DDX) offers clinicians a fast, easy way to diagnose patients, ranking the likelihood of potential problems based on selected factors.

The PEPID DDX easily integrated into any healthcare system, including electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic data information sources (EDISs) or health information services (HISs), supporting clinical evaluations and helping clinicians improve patient care. To use the DDX system, clinicians first input a patient's gender, age, symptoms, and symptom severity, together with the physician's initial evaluation. The DDX then generates a ranked listing of potential diseases. In addition to enterprise healthcare customers, the DDX will also be made available to individual PEPID subscribers using mobile applications, such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone.

For example: An 18-year-old male patient is suffering from neck pain, difficulty swallowing, drooling, and a muffled voice. From these symptoms, the DDX generates 33 potential conditions and numerically ranks them in terms of likelihood. In this specific case, a peritonsillar abscess is ranked as the most likely diagnosis by the DDX generator. Since this can be a life-threatening condition, the DDX validates the need for further investigation and prompt treatment. The PEPID DDX is a product of PEPID (Evanston, IL, USA).

"We all know that you have to start with an accurate diagnosis in order to get proper treatment," said John Wagner, president of PEPID. "However, coming to a definitive conclusion is not always cut-and-dried. Our differential diagnosis generator is a powerful resource that can assist physicians identify conditions that may be difficult to detect in a routine exam."

The content for the DDX and other PEPID products is reviewed and contributed to by various partners, including the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, the U.S. National Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators, the Family Physician Inquiries Network, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, the Oncology Nursing Society, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

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