Methods and apparatus for providing decision support

1. A method for providing medical decision support with respect to medical treatments, the method comprising:

providing a first interface identifying a plurality of mathematical health outcome prediction models using patient-specific variables;

electronically receiving at a computer system a selection made via the first interface of two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of health outcome prediction models; and

dynamically generating, by the computer system, a second interface based at least in part on respective definitions of the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

wherein the dynamically generated second interface is configured to request patient information corresponding to the patient variables of the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

wherein the dynamically generated second interface is configured by the computer system to reduce redundancy in the requested data at least in part by identifying one or more variables that may be shared among the two or more selected mathematical health outcome prediction models based at least in part upon the respective definitions of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second interface retrieves patient information from a patient information system.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second interface requests patient information from a patient information system using an XML web service without displaying the request.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second interface is provided for display to a user, and patient information entered by the user is received at the computer system.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second interface is configured to obtain patient information related to a patient's gender, age, and history of diabetes.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

providing a user interface for inputting a plurality of regression model specifications related to medical treatment and outcome; and

providing a user interface via which the user can select all or a subset of the plurality of the regression model specifications for execution.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

(a) inputting a regression model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of the regression model specifications.

8. The method as defined in claim 7 , the method further comprising:

using the results of the of the user-selected regression model specifications to create an informed consent document and/or patient educational material including a discussion of procedural risks and benefits.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

(a) inputting a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

executing a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

providing for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

(a) obtaining a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

executing a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

providing for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first interface is provided for display on a user terminal so that the user can select one or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of health outcome prediction models.

12. A computer system configured to facilitate the use of health outcome prediction models, the computer system comprising:

at least one processor;

memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions stored therein that when executed by the at least one processor are configured to cause the computer system to:

provide a first interface, the first interface identifying a plurality of mathematical health outcome prediction models using patient-specific variables;

receive a selection made via the first interface of two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

dynamically generate a second interface based at least in part on respective definitions of the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

the dynamically generated second interface configured to request patient information corresponding to the patient variables of the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

wherein the dynamically generated second interface is configured by the computer system to reduce redundancy in the requested data at least in part by identifying one or more variables that may be shared among the two or more selected mathematical health outcome prediction models based at least in part upon the respective definitions of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models.

13. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the second interface is configured to retrieve patient information from a patient information system.

14. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the second interface is configured to request patient information from a patient information system using an XML web service without displaying the request.

15. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the second interface is provided for display to a user, and patient information entered by the user is received at the computer system.

16. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the second interface is configured to obtain patient information related to a patient's gender, age, and history of diabetes.

17. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to:

provide a user interface for inputting a plurality of regression model specifications related to medical treatment and outcome; and

provide a user interface via which the user can select all or a subset of the plurality of the regression model specifications for execution.

18. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to:

(a) obtain a regression model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeat (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of the regression model specifications.

19. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to:

(a) obtain a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeat (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

execute a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

provide for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

20. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to:

(a) obtain a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeat (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

execute a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

provide for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

21. The computer system as defined in claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to:

use the results of the of the user-selected regression model specifications to create an informed consent document and/or patient educational material including a discussion of procedural risks and benefits.

22. The computer system as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to cause the computer system to provide the first interface for display on a user terminal for the user to select one or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of health outcome prediction models.

23. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

providing a first interface identifying a plurality of mathematical health outcome prediction models using patient-specific variables;

receiving a selection made via the first interface of two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of health outcome prediction models;

dynamically generating a second interface based at least in part on the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

wherein the dynamically generated second interface is configured to request patient information corresponding to the patient variables of the selected two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models,

wherein the dynamically generated second interface is configured to reduce redundancy in the requested data at least in part by the dynamic generation operation identifying one or more variables that may be shared among the two or more selected mathematical health outcome prediction models based at least in part upon the respective definitions of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models.

24. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the second interface is configured to obtain patient information from a patient information system.

25. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the second interface is configured to request patient information from a remote system using an XML web service without displaying the request.

26. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the second interface is provided for display to a user, and patient information entered by the user is received at the computer device.

27. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the second interface is configured to obtain patient information related to a patient's gender, age, and history of diabetes.

28. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the computing device, are further configured to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

providing a user interface for inputting a plurality of regression model specifications related to medical treatment and outcome; and

providing a user interface via which the user can select all or a subset of the plurality of the regression model specifications.

29. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the computing device, are further configured to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

(a) obtaining a regression model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of the regression model specifications.

30. The article of manufacture in claim 29 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the computing device, are further configured to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

using the results of the of the user-selected regression model specifications to create an informed consent document and/or patient educational material including a discussion of procedural risks and benefits.

31. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the computing device, are further configured to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

(a) obtaining a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

executing a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

providing for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

32. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the computing device, are further configured to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

(a) obtaining a health outcome prediction model specification related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment; and

(b) repeating (a) a plurality of times to obtain and store a plurality of health outcome prediction model specifications related to providing predictions regarding the outcome for a patient of a medical treatment;

executing a plurality of user selected health outcome prediction model specifications corresponding to the selection made via the first interface of ene the two or more mathematical health outcome prediction models; and

providing for display results of execution of the health outcome prediction model specifications.

33. The article of manufacture in claim 23 , wherein the instructions, when executed, are further configured to provide the first interface for display on a user terminal for the user to select one or more mathematical health outcome prediction models from the plurality of health outcome prediction models.