So far, I have been doing a lot of orienting, foundational coursework and hardware housekeeping in preparation for my most serious research. The perspectives instilled in just the short time I have been here have already had great impact on my thinking. Things I have seen by experience are now gaining formalism that can be better broadcast and more widely implimented. I am being systematically exposed to the successes and failures of medical information systems old and new. We are tackling everything from the ancestral medical record systems of Mass. Gen. Hospital and Brigham & Women's to the newest implimentations at Children's Hospital. We are networked with many frontiers, including among others, those at Columbia University, Utah and Stanford.
Within our group, there is a recently initiated project to develop a cannonical medical record for the purposes of World Wide Web accessibility. It is based on successes at Children's Hospital. In turn, there is another project of grander scale called the Guardian Angel. It is an effort to engineer a medical record which would travel with the patient, ideally from birth on, which would be the most dependable repository for all medical information regarding the single patient. In addition, this record has the potential to tighten the feedback loop of ongoing medical issues allowing tighter controls, hence improved quality of life for cases of intense management, such as insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, or patients on anti-coagulant therapy. Further, the record structure is intended to provide the patient a better springboard for self-empowerment in the patient education process by serving as a gateway to the health care information infrastructure of this and the coming age. This is our most exciting project and one in which I will participate for at least the duration of my stay.
My particular interests include the acquisition and the representation of patient preferences: answers to the question, "What does the patient think is 'healthy'?" How do we find out and how can we represent what we find in a manner that allows us to integrate it into medical decision support technologies. Those who have not already discovered, will shortly, that not all patients desire the same picture of health. To effectively assist any medical decision maker (human or animal custodian) the animate or inanimate aide must accomodate this diversity. The terms in which the tools aide the decision maker cannot be limited to the cost of health care alone nor in the years of a lifespan. It must incorporate a measure of the quality of life and the state of health. As technology shortens the distance between our calculators and our natural language media, exciting opportunities arrise which I believe can be engineered to reduce the stress of the medical professional in their effort to render the patient a better state of health as well as increase the patient involvement in successful pursuit of a better quality of life.
Why me? I can only thank two parties: 1) the many dear clients of my years as a housecall veterinarian for the motivation and insight gained as I had the priviledge of servicing them at that intimate place in people's lives that is home to the intricacies of the human/animal bond and 2) my Lord Creator who sustains me and instills His desire that all enjoy a full and wonderful life of purpose. I am intolerant of the lie that it must be as it is. Soon I will also be able to thank those participating in my research training for the emmensely rich experience which they are bestowing.
Well, you asked, "What are you working on at M.I.T. and the Laboratory For Computer Science?" I hope I have answered your question. Remember, there are no small projects at M.I.T. and not likely many short answers.