Implementing rules to improve the quality of concept post-coordination with SNOMED CT.
The use of SNOMED CT as a standard reference terminology enables interoperability between clinical systems. This reference tool provides a method for creating post-coordinated terms by users according to local needs. While the creation of these terms is free, there are a number of rules, as defined in the user manual of SNOMED CT that must be followed.The Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires has a Terminology Server that encodes medical terms, using SNOMED CT as the reference vocabulary. An interoperability analysis performed with the Nebraska Medical Center in 2006 found a high error rate (26%) in post-coordinated terms. Therefore, we implemented an automatic system of rules within the Terminology Server as defined in the user manual. Following rules implementation, the error rate decreased from 26% to 2%.
Navas
H
H
Department of Health Informatics, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina. hernan.navas@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
Lopez Osornio
A
A
Gambarte
L
L
Elías Leguizamón
G
G
Wasserman
S
S
Orrego
N
N
Luna
D
D
de Quirós
F Gonzalez B
FG
D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D009329:Nebraska; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D039061:Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled