The overall aim of the studies described in this thesis was to investigate and optimize the diagnostic
process of (febrile) children presenting to the hospital emergency department (ed), and to
study aspects of this process as a base for clinical decision support systems. We discussed the use
of an electronic medical record with structured data entry, the development of clinical prediction
rules for specific diagnostic problems in febrile children attending the hospital ed, the validity of
a triage system used for pediatric patients, and the evaluation of a clinical decision support system
for diagnostic management of children with fever without apparent source
