Complex Decision Support in Practice

Abstract

In the last three chapters, we discussed some of the issues that make the field of decision support challenging, as well as the theoretical foundations of several widely used approaches to decision support. Business workflow technology has been emphasized because it is much more mature (if pricey and proprietary), as a basis for decision support, than similar approaches that are now being explored in the medical area. While practitioners of medicine have long claimed that the problems of medicine are unique, the assertion of exceptionalism can be made truthfully for almost any complex domain, whether it involves the construction of aircraft or the operations of a multi-national investment firm. Proper operations of business workflows that involve large financial transactions is every bit as important to the organization’s well-being as the proper management of patients in a healthcare organization. My belief is that reusing and adapting ideas that have worked elsewhere is likely to be more productive in the long term than trying to rediscover first principles.