The accumulation of new medical knowledge, increasing in an exponential manner, may force the physician of the future to employ a computer system in the practice of medicine. Some foresee feeding the machine data from the history and physical examination, pushing a button, and in less than a minute receiving a list of the diagnostic possibilities, with probabilities listed for each, plus a program indicating which additional tests would be the most productive. Others staunchly reject such a prediction, but none will argue against, and many are already pleading for facilities to siftthe literature for pertinent research reports, case histories, and reviews.1 A less complex substitute designed to fit easily into office or den would be a very desirable interim tool.
In this article, my purpose is to describe a relatively simple system, easy to set up and maintain, designed to serve this purpose. During the past four years