Approaches for the visualization of health information

Clinical reasoning leading to diagnosis or treatment decisions in the modern era can be complex due to scenarios that often involve multiple morbidities, unique patient contexts and the plethora of evidence repositories and guidelines now available. The complexity impacts in clinical group settings such as ward rounds, multidisciplinary meetings or shared care contexts where health care professionals unfamiliar with a patient's context must be briefed, usually within tight time constraints. The complexity also impacts on shared care as patients often struggle to understand clinical decision making. In this article, a case is advanced that the knowledge transfer required can be facilitated if relevant information is presented to patients and health care professionals visually. A categorisation of diagrams for this is advanced. Illustrative examples include a diagram that presents key information for a treatment decision. The suggestion is made that decisions about elements to include in diagrams vary according to patient and organisational circumstances. Insights from participants who assessed the diagrams are presented.