title: Tracking referents in electronic health records.
abstract: Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are organized around two kinds of statements: those reporting observations made, and those reporting acts performed. In neither case does the record involve any direct reference to what such statements are actually about. They record not: what is happening on the side of the patient, but rather: what is said about what is happening. While the need for a unique patient identifier is generally recognized, we argue that we should now move to an EHR regime in which all clinically salient particulars - from the concrete disorder on the side of the patient and the body parts in which it occurs to the concrete treatments given - should be uniquely identified. This will allow us to achieve interoperability among different systems of records at the level where it really matters: in regard to what is happening in the real world. It will also allow us to keep track of particular disorders and of the effects of particular treatments in a precise and unambiguous way.
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Ontological Research, Saarbrücken, Germany. www.ecor.uni-saarland.de
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ceusters
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans