Knowledge-based automation.

Future technologic advances in microcomputer hardware will allow us to build complex interactive information systems that go far beyond conventional laboratory management functions to address the needs of laboratorians as well as physicians in patient care activities. These systems will use a "local-area network to transmit not only text but also images to workstations throughout a hospital. Unlike current systems driven from a central computer, future systems will decentralize much of the memory and processing to individual workstations." The expansion of software tools for modeling the decision-making process coupled with the development and testing of useful systems in relatively narrow problem domains will help the laboratory construct the necessary knowledge bases for future applications. Such systems will present complex medical data in a useful, informative manner, leading to a more rapid, consistent, and, it is hoped, cost effective decision making process. Utilizing these techniques, laboratory medicine can play a crucial role in fostering the appropriate and logical use of the laboratory.