title: Guideline and quality indicators for development, purchase and use of controlled health vocabularies.
abstract: Developers and purchasers of controlled health terminologies require valid mechanisms for comparing terminological systems. By Controlled Health Vocabularies, we refer to terminologies and terminological systems designed to represent clinical data at a granularity consistent with the practice of today's healthcare delivery. Comprehensive criterion for the evaluation of such systems historically have been lacking and the known criteria are inconsistently applied. Although there are many papers which describe specific desirable features of a controlled health vocabulary, to date there is not a consistent guide for evaluators of terminologies to reference, which will help them compare implementations of terminological systems on an equal footing [Methods Inf. Med. 37 (1998) 394, J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 5 (1998) 503]. This guideline serves to fill the gap between academic enumeration of desirable terminological characteristics and the practical implementation or rigorous evaluations which will yield comparable data regarding the quality of one or more controlled health vocabularies.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 200 First St. S.W., Rochester, MN 55905, USA. elkin.peter@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Elkin
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Dietlind
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wahner-Roedler
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bergstrom
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pittelkow
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosse
mesh_terms: D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D018973:Intellectual Property; D008490:Medical Informatics; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled