Facilitating access to laboratory guidelines by modeling their contents and designing a computerized user interface.

Laboratory tests are not always prescribed appropriately. Guidelines for some important laboratory tests have been developed by expert panels in the Parisian region to maximize the appropriateness of laboratory medicine. However; these recommendations are not frequently consulted by physicians and nurses. We developed a system facilitating consultation of these guidelines, to increase their usability. Elements of information contained in these documents were identified and included in recommendations of different categories. UML modeling was used to represent these categories and their relationships to each other in the guidelines. We used the generated model to implement a computerized interface. The prototype interface, based on web-based technology was found to be rapid and easy to use. By clicking on provided keywords, information about the subject sought is highlighted whilst retaining the entire text of the guideline on-screen.