Tech Report HCIL-96-04

Plaisant, C., Rose, A. (March 1996)
Exploring LifeLines to Visualize Patient Records
A short version of this report appeared as a poster summary in 1996 American Medical Informatic Association Annual Fall Symposium (Washington, DC, Oct. 26-30, 1996), pp. 884, AMIA, Bethesda MD. [Published Version]
HCIL-96-04, CS-TR-3620, CAR-TR-819

LifeLines provide a general visualization environment for personal histories. We explored its use for medical patient records. A one screen overview of the record using timelines provides direct access to the data. Problems, hospitalization and medications can be represented as horizontal lines, while icons represent discrete events such as physician consultations (and progress notes) or tests. Line color and thickness can illustrate relationships or significance. Techniques are described to display large records. Rescaling tools and filters allow users to focus on part of the information, revealing more details.