Tech Report HCIL-98-08

Plaisant, C., Mushlin, R., Snyder, A., Li, J., Heller, D., Shneiderman, B. (1998)
LifeLines: Using Visualization to Enhance Navigation and Analysis of Patient Records
Revised version in 1998 American Medical Informatic Association Annual Fall Symposium (Orlando, Nov. 9-11, 1998), p. 76-80, AMIA, Bethesda MD.
HCIL-98-08, CS-TR-3943, UMIACS-TR-98-56

LifeLines provide a general visualization environment for personal histories. We explore its use for clinical patient records. A Java user interface is described, which presents a one-screen overview of a computerized patient record using timelines. Problems, diagnoses, test results or medications can be represented as dots or horizontal lines. Zooming provides more details; line color and thickness illustrate relationships or significance. The visual display acts as a giant menu, giving direct access to the data.