The goal of the Phase I research will be to validate clinical utility of a Cardiology Knowledge Management System (CKMS) as applied to cardiac examination and bedside management skills. CKMS will acquire data from bedside examinations, Echocardiography, Electrocardiography laboratories and expert knowledge related to these data sets. Physiologically synchronized imaging studies will be collected and uploaded to a CKMS server. Expert cardiologists will then review, annotate and organize clinical records into comprehensive knowledge modules. Annotated cases will than be available across the both network to the users in form of expert knowledge. All cases will be linked to an interactive assessment tool that will evaluate diagnostic skills of the users. CKMS will provide on-line access to history and physical examination findings supported by videoclips, heart sounds, X-ray electrocardiograms, echocardiograms and expert annotations. The hypothesis in this research is that CKMS is a valuable adjunct to traditional training of cardiac examinations skills and that it will improve diagnostic acumen of the users. An on-line skill assessment tool will be used to measure the effectiveness of CKMS in improving users' knowledge. Free Response Receiver Operator Characteristic (FROC) technique will compare users' performance to experts' diagnostic and management decisions as supported by official medical society guidelines and established clinical practice.
