Clinical Data Visualization: The Current State and Future Needs

Abstract

The growing volume of clinical data in modern medical practice creates difficulties for clinicians when attempting to come to a full understanding of each patient’s overall health status. Many different approaches to computer-based visualizations have been taken in an attempt to alleviate this burden; however, no single approach has been widely adopted. As a step towards optimization and standardization of data visualization in healthcare, this paper presents a diverse set of approaches to visualization for multiple organ systems. To do so we summarize best practices in design and evaluation while proposing usability testing methodology. We then review and illustrate the goals of various clinical data visualization techniques.