Purpose of terminology:

This comprehensive clinical health terminology is used to improve the quality of healthcare by determining standard vocabulary for diseases, symptoms, specimen types, living organisms, chemicals, and drugs. Along with that, it is a consistent representation of clinical content in electronic health records. This is an evolving product that is mapped to other international standards to make for a better quality of care.

How this terminology is currently being used:

Used in over eighty countries, this terminology has become a critical part of clinical documentation. It supports the representation of clinical information in a way that is designed for the users and eventually enables automatic interpretation of clinical phrases that are captured frequently by healthcare providers.

How this terminology enables the sharing of data across systems:

Using electronic medical records not only improves communication in the healthcare setting but also increases the availability of relevant information. By using this terminology, the clinical information has a more meaningful-based retrieval as there is increased opportunity for real-time decision support and more accurate management.

The key challenges of this terminology: