Clinical clarity versus terminological order - The readiness of SNOMED CT concept descriptors for primary care

Zhe He, Michael Halper, Yehoshua Perl, Gai Elhanan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

As SNOMED usage becomes more ingrained within applications, its range of concept descriptors, and particularly its synonym adequacy, becomes more important. A simulated clinical scenario involving various term-based concept searches is used to assess whether SNOMED's concept descriptors provide sufficient differentiation to enable possible concept selection between similar terms. Four random samples from different SNOMED concept populations are utilized. Of particular interest are concepts mapped duplicately into UMLS concepts due to shared term patterns. While overall synonym problems are rare (1%), some concept populations exhibited a high rate of potential problems for clinical use (17-62%). The vast majority of issues are due to SNOMED's inherent structure and fine granularity. Many findings hint at a lack of clear delineation between reference and interface terminological qualities. Closer attention should be given to practical clinical use-case scenarios. Reducing SNOMED's structural complexity may alleviate many of the described findings and encourage clinical adoption.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMIX-HS'12 - Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Managing Interoperability and Complexity in Health Systems, Co-located with CIKM 2012
Pages1-6
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event2nd International Workshop on Managing Interoperability and Complexity in Health Systems, MIX-HS 2012, Collocated with the 21st ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, CIKM 2012 - Maui, HI, United States
Duration: Oct 29 2012Oct 29 2012

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, Proceedings

Other

Other2nd International Workshop on Managing Interoperability and Complexity in Health Systems, MIX-HS 2012, Collocated with the 21st ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, CIKM 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMaui, HI
Period10/29/1210/29/12

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Decision Sciences
  • General Business, Management and Accounting

Keywords

  • Clinical use
  • SNOMED CT
  • Synonyms
  • Terminology

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