title: Constructing clinical applications: the GALEN approach.
abstract: A common problem for developers of clinical applications is coping with the diversity of medical language. Medical language as it is used all over the world varies widely, while the referents for these words stay essentially the same. Software developers must reconcile this diversity with the practical necessity of producing applications that are usable in a variety of hospitals, while ensuring that information can be shared between applications. Existing approaches center around coding and classification schemes, but these approaches must be supplemented by a range of sophisticated terminological services in order for the language barriers to be overcome. To address this, the GALEN project is developing an application called the Terminology Server to provide such a range of terminological services (e.g., conceptual and multilingual services). The software is built upon a re-usable core model of medical terminology. This paper reports on the development of a clinical application called the SCUI (Structured Clinical User Interface) which draws on these GALEN technologies and illustrates an innovative approach to the construction of future clinical applications. The SCUI was specifically developed and tested in the context of infectious diseases to satisfy the demands made by the medical intensive care unit on the Geneva Hospital's microbiology laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Medical Informatics Center, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Alpay
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lovis
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Nowlan
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Rush
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Baud
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Juge
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Scherrer
mesh_terms: D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D007256:Information Systems; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled