baba@flairvax.UUCP (Baba ROM DOS) (10/29/84)
Michael Weisskopf wrote an article for the Washington Post, recently reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle, concerning a rather remarkable medical expert system. A little awareness of the signal-to-noise ratio of the popular press is in order, but it's interesting if true: In Nanjing, China, in 1981, the city's most prominent herbalists, all in their 80s, decided to bequeath their expertise and texts to a computer data base. The system is operated by a paramedic in consultation with the patient. "In three years of practice two afternoons weekly, the machine has treated 6000 patients with what is reported to be a higher rate of recovery than ordinary physicians boast. The fee usually falls under $1 per visit, including the cost of the medicinal herbs." It runs on a TRS-80. Baba