Targeted Adjustment of Previous Insights Based on Changes to Positional Statements

1 . A method, in a data processing system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions executed by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to implement a cognitive system, the method comprising:

ingesting, by the cognitive system, a corpus of content, wherein the corpus of content comprises a plurality of guideline documents having one or more positional statements;

generating, by the cognitive system, a set of insight data structures based on the ingested corpus, wherein the set of insight data structures are mapped to corresponding positional statements or guidelines in the content of the corpus from which the insight data structures were generated;

receiving, by the cognitive system, a modification to a positional statement or guideline in the corpus;

determining, by the cognitive system, an insight data structure affected by the modification to the positional statement or guideline based on the set of insight data structures and the mapping to corresponding positional statements or guidelines;

updating, by the cognitive system, the affected insight data structure, without re-ingesting the entire corpus, to generate an updated set of insight data structures; and

performing, by the cognitive system, a cognitive operation based on the updated set of insight data structures.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cognitive system is a medical treatment recommendation cognitive system and the guidelines and one or more positional statements are guidelines and positional statements associated with defining criteria for applicability of medical treatments for one or more medical conditions of patients.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the insight data structures are in-memory representations of medical treatment guideline positional statements for the application of medical treatments to patients having specified medical conditions.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the modification is one of a change to an existing positional statement or existing guideline, the addition of a new positional statement or new guideline, or the deletion of an existing positional statement or existing guideline, and wherein updating the affected insight data structure comprises at least one of modifying a parameter of the affected insight data structure based on the modification, adding a new insight data structure, or deleting the affected insight data structure.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining an insight data structure affected by the modification comprises:

determining, by the cognitive system, a scope of change of the modification of the positional statement or guideline; and

determining, by the cognitive system, an adjustment to be applied to an insight data structure mapped to the modified positional statement or guideline based on the scope of change.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein updating the affected insight data structure comprises:

applying, by the cognitive system, the determined adjustment to the insight data structure.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the cognitive operation comprises:

analyzing a patient electronic medical record based on the updated set of insight data structures; and

outputting a medical treatment recommendation for treating a patient corresponding to the patient electronic medical record.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each insight data structure has, in a mapping data structure, an associated unique identifier that links the insight data structure to a portion of a corresponding positional statement or guideline in the content of the corpus, and wherein determining an insight data structure affected by the modification to the positional statement or guideline comprises performing a lookup operation in the mapping data structure based on a unique identifier associated with the modified positional statement or guideline.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the unique identifier comprises one or more of a document identifier, page identifier, statement number, or word range.

10 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the cognitive operation is the generation and output of a medical treatment recommendation for treating a medical condition of a patient by evaluating a patient electronic medical record based on the updated insight data structure to determine if a medical treatment associated with the updated insight data structure applies to the medical condition of the patient and the patient's characteristics match requirements set forth in the updated insight data structure.

11 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to implement a cognitive system which operates to:

ingest a corpus of content, wherein the corpus of content comprises a plurality of guideline documents having one or more positional statements;

generate a set of insight data structures based on the ingested corpus, wherein the set of insight data structures are mapped to corresponding positional statements or guidelines in the content of the corpus from which the insight data structures were generated;

receive a modification to a positional statement or guideline in the corpus;

determine an insight data structure affected by the modification to the positional statement or guideline based on the set of insight data structures and the mapping to corresponding positional statements or guidelines;

update the affected insight data structure, without re-ingesting the entire corpus, to generate an updated set of insight data structures; and

perform a cognitive operation based on the updated set of insight data structures.

12 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the cognitive system is a medical treatment recommendation cognitive system and the guidelines and one or more positional statements are guidelines and positional statements associated with defining criteria for applicability of medical treatments for one or more medical conditions of patients.

13 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the insight data structures are in-memory representations of medical treatment guideline positional statements for the application of medical treatments to patients having specified medical conditions.

14 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the modification is one of a change to an existing positional statement or existing guideline, the addition of a new positional statement or new guideline, or the deletion of an existing positional statement or existing guideline, and wherein updating the affected insight data structure comprises at least one of modifying a parameter of the affected insight data structure based on the modification, adding a new insight data structure, or deleting the affected insight data structure.

15 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to determine an insight data structure affected by the modification at least by:

determining a scope of change of the modification of the positional statement or guideline; and

determining an adjustment to be applied to an insight data structure mapped to the modified positional statement or guideline based on the scope of change.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to update the affected insight data structure at least by applying the determined adjustment to the insight data structure.

17 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the cognitive operation comprises:

analyzing a patient electronic medical record based on the updated set of insight data structures; and

outputting a medical treatment recommendation for treating a patient corresponding to the patient electronic medical record.

18 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein each insight data structure has, in a mapping data structure, an associated unique identifier that links the insight data structure to a portion of a corresponding positional statement or guideline in the content of the corpus, and wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to determine an insight data structure affected by the modification to the positional statement or guideline at least by performing a lookup operation in the mapping data structure based on a unique identifier associated with the modified positional statement or guideline.

19 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the cognitive operation is the generation and output of a medical treatment recommendation for treating a medical condition of a patient by evaluating a patient electronic medical record based on the updated insight data structure to determine if a medical treatment associated with the updated insight data structure applies to the medical condition of the patient and the patient's characteristics match requirements set forth in the updated insight data structure.

20 . An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to implement a cognitive system which operates to:

ingest a corpus of content, wherein the corpus of content comprises a plurality of guideline documents having one or more positional statements;

generate a set of insight data structures based on the ingested corpus, wherein the set of insight data structures are mapped to corresponding positional statements or guidelines in the content of the corpus from which the insight data structures were generated;

receive a modification to a positional statement or guideline in the corpus;

determine an insight data structure affected by the modification to the positional statement or guideline based on the set of insight data structures and the mapping to corresponding positional statements or guidelines;

update the affected insight data structure, without re-ingesting the entire corpus, to generate an updated set of insight data structures; and

perform a cognitive operation based on the updated set of insight data structures.