Using a terminology server and consumer search phrases to help patients find physicians with particular expertise.
OBJECTIVE
To design and implement a real world application using a terminology server to assist patients and physicians who use common language search terms to find specialist physicians with a particular clinical expertise.


METHODS
Terminology servers have been developed to help users encoding of information using complicated structured vocabulary during data entry tasks, such as recording clinical information. We describe a methodology using Personal Health Terminology trade mark and a SNOMED CT-based hierarchical concept server.


RESULTS
Construction of a pilot mediated-search engine to assist users who use vernacular speech in querying data which is more technical than vernacular.


CONCLUSIONS
This approach, which combines theoretical and practical requirements, provides a useful example of concept-based searching for physician referrals.
Cole
Curtis L
CL
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue A123, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Kanter
Andrew S
AS
Cummens
Michael
M
Vostinar
Sean
S
Naeymi-Rad
Frank
F
D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D003256:Community Participation; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet; D008511:Medicine; D009323:Natural Language Processing; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013038:Specialization; D039061:Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled