As part of the Q&A system we are minded that including patient identifiable information (PII) is a big no-no! So, as part of the initial question processing we have a ‘guardrail’ system to handle this eventuality!

Test Q (completely made up) : My patient (Mrs Jane Smith DOB 17/12/1856) has persistent vulvovaginal candidiasis not improving with prolonged fluconazole treatment. What investigations should I undertake and can you suggest some treatments?

Our system reported:

The question as written is problematic due to a violation of criterion (2): it includes patient identifiable information.

Issue (2): Inclusion of Patient Identifiable Information
Name: “Mrs Jane Smith”

Date of Birth: “DOB 17/12/1856”

These are direct identifiers and must not be included in a clinical query, even in professional contexts where confidentiality is expected.

Corrected Version (with Identifiable Information Removed):
Q: A postmenopausal woman has persistent vulvovaginal candidiasis that has not improved with prolonged fluconazole treatment. What investigations should I undertake and can you suggest alternative treatments?

The question processing stage is really interesting. As well as guardrail (stripping out PII, profanities etc) it’s correcting spelling, grammar, formatting. It’s assigning question type and clinical area(s). There’s a lot of activity before the search has even started.

We’re getting close…. The system was great before and it’s getting much much better!