Software helps doctors make diagnosis

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. doctors are increasingly looking to Web-based medical technology to help diagnose symptoms, a new report found.

A 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association review of autopsy studies found that doctors misdiagnose patient symptoms 8 percent to 24 percent of the time, USA Today said Thursday. In an effort to reduce mistakes, doctors are increasingly using the Internet when they're stumped, a 2006 British Medical Journal study said.

One software program called Isabel is being used in 18 U.S. hospitals to assist in diagnosis. Interest in similar decision-support systems is growing in the medical community, the newspaper said.

Isabel developer Joseph Britto, who is a physician, said the program was developed to help doctors reduce errors by lightening the "burden of memory." He said Isabel allows doctors to "click through" medical knowledge related to a possible diagnosis.