Modeling and Information Presentation in Healthcare Decision Making

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer and the second most common cause of death among both genders. Since early detection can significantly improve patients’ survival rate, one of the physician’s primary obligations is to develop adequate screening plans to achieve early detection. In clinical practice, physicians are required to make personalized screening recommendations with population-level guidelines. Therefore, physicians demand better information at an individual level, specifically, a better presentation of adenomas progression and risk-benefit evaluation when individual patient’s risk-factor readings and pre-existing test results are considered. I proposed a decision making support framework to help physicians with their decision making process, where analysis and interface displays would help provide a more transparent view of the model, measurements, and patient risk uncertainties to physicians. Specifically, an information presentation interface is developed on top of a mathematical model to better deliver and illustrate the result of cost and benefit analysis for physicians’ final decision making. Plus, I interviewed oncologists and gastrointestinal physicians at a major cancer center to help focus features and presentation frameworks to improve physician awareness, communication with patients, and effects of risk factors on treatment plans. This paper consists of 3 individual papers, each covering one emphasis of this project. Modeling in Healthcare Decision Making emphasis on the analytical issues while Information Presentation design in Healthcare Decision Making presents an in-depth study of clinical doctors, regarding their practical decision making process and their preferences. The construction of a Decision Making Support Tool for colorectal cancer screening proposed a complete framework to design a decision making support tool