2. An expert system is a package that holds a body of knowledge and a set of rules on a subject that has been gained from human experts. An expert system helps the user make decisions by asking questions and then, based on the user’s answers and the knowledge that it holds, offering advice. It can even explain to the user how it arrived at its conclusions WHAT IS AN EXPERT SYSTEM?

3. Software features The databases in the software contain health care information by separating data into knowledge-based components. Most expert systems used in health care administration are Windows-based software programs that can run on any type of operating system. Hardware features Hardware that supports expert systems for health care administration are usually mini-computer systems. These systems can be located in a hospital, medical institution or at a remote processing site. Other systems, such as PC-based network systems, wireless-based computer devices and mobile phones, can access an expert system designated for health care administration based on security access codes usually provided by a health care information systems officer. CONTINUED

4. Create scenarios A expert system for health care administration can create "what if" scenarios that allow doctors, nurses, researchers and patients to access information on any medical procedure, research project or administrative function. Health care information can be accessed on a "real-time" basis, which means that data is constantly updated when changes or new information is loaded into the system. Heuristics Heuristics is the process of responding to a question posed to the system in the format of text, video, touch screen input or keywords and phrases. Medical personnel can create their own knowledge base components ranging from administrative procedures to medical procedures, administrative processes and discoveries for other people to examine and research. CONTINUED

5. End-user interfaces An example of a web based expert system interface is a cancer patient researching information on medical advances concerning cancer. The web interface allows the end user to input their scenario and scans several databases for the latest research developments in the field of cancer research. Many of these web interfaces respond through a knowledge base in the form of text, audio or video. Artificial intelligence Expert systems for health care administration are designed from simplistic text-based response systems, which provide information on a certain medical topic or administrative process or complex system, addressing a range of needs through many output responses. These expert systems are expensive to operate and maintain and involve the highest level of software and hardware security to protect sensitive data. CONTINUED

6. In hospitals expert systems can help doctors diagnose illnesses and suggest treatments. People in remote places, for example doctors in remote hospitals, can have expert help and advice on hand in the shape of the expert system. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF EXPERT SYSTEMS?

7. An expert system is made up of three parts: A user interface - This is the system that allows a non-expert user to query (question) the expert system, and to receive advice. The user-interface is designed to be a simple to use as possible. A knowledge base - This is a collection of facts and rules. The knowledge base is created from information provided by human experts An inference engine - This acts rather like a search engine, examining the knowledge base for information that matches the user's query HOW DO THEY WORK?

8. Training people to become an expert is expensive and very time consuming. Expert systems, though can be copied many times. They are always available unlike us that need holidays, get sick, change job etc. Contain the accumulated knowledge from many experts on a particular subject. ADVANTAGES OF EXPERT SYSTEMS

9. However expert systems can some problems: Can't easily adapt to new circumstances (e.g. if they are presented with totally unexpected data, they are unable to process it) Can be difficult to use (if the non-expert user makes mistakes when using the system, the resulting advice could be very wrong) They have no 'common sense' (a human user tends to notice obvious errors, whereas a computer wouldn't) DISADVANTAGES

10. They can use expert systems to find a diagnosis for someone with an illness. They can do this by typing in symptoms to the expert system and finding out with illness the symptoms relate to with the knowledge from the system. This is good because people don’t need extra training to become an expert. TECHMED 2014