Medical Algorithm

A medical algorithm describes any formula, statistical survey, graph, or look-up table that provides useful information in some aspect of health care. The purpose of medical algorithms is to improve and standardize decisions made in the delivery of medical care. Medical algorithms therefore play a prominent role in medical informatics, as well as control and operation of medical instrumentation. They are particularly useful in diagnosis, prognosis, selection of medical tests, and determining therapies.

It has been estimated that there are more than 250,000 medical algorithms contained in biomedical peer-retrieved literature across all specialties of medicine. These algorithms range from simple calculations to complex outcome predictions. Standardization and automation of medical algorithms improves information sharing among health care providers, assists in the correct assessment, diagnosis, planning of therapy, and helps reduce medical errors. The HILab contributes to the improvement of health care by cataloging and implementing the medical algorithms. This website servers as an educational resource to provide up-to-date clinical/medical information and easy-to-use automated calculators.

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