title: Implementing rules to improve the quality of concept post-coordination with SNOMED CT.
abstract: 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%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Informatics, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina. hernan.navas@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Navas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lopez Osornio
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gambarte
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elías Leguizamón
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wasserman
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Orrego
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luna
authors.forename: F Gonzalez B
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: de Quirós
mesh_terms: 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