A Study on the Integration of Coding Systems to Establish a Database of Clinical Data

Abstract

AbstractTo facilitate comprehensive and easy retrieval of clinical data, common coding systems which are currently in use, such as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), the Systematized Nomenclature of Human and Veterinary Medicine (SNOMED), and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC), were simply introduced and analyzed. The method and strategy used to establish a database of clinical data based on these coding systems were studied. Theprimary method was to choose useful codes of all coding systems to establish a code library, to prepare entry procedures and to input codes. The strategy was to start from a point and to make full use of the existing information systems, so as to gradually accumulate experience and reduce the workload. To establish a comprehensive database by using two coding systems for the terminology of human and veterinary medicine systems and the ICD, and to establish the database of clinical da...