Method and system for concept-based terminology management

1. A method for implementing an interface terminology in a longitudinal electronic medical record, the interface terminology comprising concepts and descriptions, a description being an alternative way to express a concept, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of concepts in a first table a database;

storing a plurality of descriptions in a second table in the database;

storing in a third table in the database linking information that links each description in the second table to a respective concept in the first table;

storing an external code set in a fourth table in the database, the external code set comprising a plurality of external codes; and

mapping an external code to a respective concept via a directed graph structure linking each external code in the fourth table to the respective concept in the first table;

wherein said plurality of concepts provide a unique terminology for a user and can be added, updated, deleted, and merged;

wherein multiple of said plurality of descriptions may link to one of said plurality of concepts;

wherein said plurality of descriptions include terms used by both clinicians and patients;

wherein, for each concept, one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred description for the linked concept and one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred consumer term for the linked concept;

wherein multiple of said plurality of external codes may map to one of said plurality of concepts;

wherein said method for implementing an interface terminology serves the ends of capturing clinician's intent, driving financial aspects including billing, and driving analytical functions;

creating a longitudinal electronic medical record by:

generating a first instance of a plurality of data objects during a first encounter, said plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising a first instance identifier and temporal identifiers;

linking a data object in said first instance to a summarization reference with a pointer, where the plurality of data objects and the summarization reference are related as part of a directed graph data structure;

creating an additional instance of a plurality of data objects during a later encounter, said additional instance of a plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising an additional instance identifier and temporal identifier; and

providing continuity for said plurality of data objects of said first instance over time by tracking a relationship between said data object of said first instance and a data object of said additional instance;

tagging elements within a domain within the longitudinal electronic medical record with one or more of said plurality of descriptions; and

displaying the preferred descriptions and the preferred consumer term.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the external code set is an administrative terminology.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the external code set is a clinical terminology.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the external code set is a reference terminology.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

assigning a unique numerical identifier to each concept.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mapping step includes indicating a type of relationship between the external code and the concept.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the relationship is one of:

same-as, broader-than, or narrower-than.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one concept includes a preferred clinician term and a preferred patient term linked as descriptions of that concept.

9. The method according to claim 1 , the interface terminology comprising a plurality of domains, wherein each concept is unique within a domain.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

abstracting similar descriptions for two concepts, such that the descriptions are different.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying a front-end file of the result of the mapping step, the front-end file comprising a link between the descriptions and the external code set.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the front-end file has a comma-separated-value ASCII format, a tab-delimited ASCII format, a database export format, or a binary flat file format.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the deploying step involves a cloud deployment that relies upon a stateless, in-memory database.

14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

storing patient data in an electronic health record using the interface terminology.

15. A method for implementing an interface terminology in a longitudinal electronic medical record in at least one database, the interface terminology including a plurality of concepts and a plurality of descriptions, a description being an alternative way to express a concept, comprising:

generating a concept table including a column storing a plurality of concept identifiers;

generating a description table including a column storing a plurality of description identifiers;

linking the concept table to the description table via a directed graph structure;

generating an external vocabulary table including a column storing a plurality of external vocabulary identifiers; and linking the concept table to the external vocabulary table via a directed graph structure;

wherein said plurality of concept identifiers provide a unique terminology for a user and can be added, updated, deleted, and merged;

wherein multiple entries in said description table may link to one entry of said concept table;

wherein said plurality of description identifiers include terms used by both clinicians and patients;

wherein, for each concept, one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred description for the linked concept and one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred consumer term for the linked concept;

wherein said method for implementing an interface terminology serves the ends of capturing clinician's intent, driving financial aspects including billing, and driving analytical functions;

creating a longitudinal electronic medical record by:

generating a first instance of a plurality of data objects during a first encounter, said plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising a first instance identifier and temporal identifiers;

linking a data object in said first instance to a summarization reference with a pointer, where the plurality of data objects and the summarization reference are related as part of a directed graph data structure;

creating an additional instance of a plurality of data objects during a later encounter, said additional instance of a plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising an additional instance identifier and temporal identifier; and

providing continuity for said plurality of data objects of said first instance over time by tracking a relationship between said data object of said first instance and a data object of said additional instance;

tagging elements within a domain within the longitudinal electronic medical record with one or more of said plurality of descriptions; and

displaying the preferred descriptions and the preferred consumer term.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of linking the concept table to the external vocabulary table comprises:

generating a mapping table;

linking the concept table to the mapping table; and

linking the external vocabulary table to the mapping table.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the mapping table includes mappings between multiple concepts in the concept table and one external vocabulary identifier in the external vocabulary table.

18. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the mapping table includes mappings between one concept in the concept table and a plurality of external vocabulary identifiers in the external vocabulary table.

19. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of linking the concept table to the description table comprises:

generating a mapping table;

linking the concept table to the mapping table; and

linking the description table to the mapping table.

20. The method according to claim 19 , further comprising:

generating a description-external vocabulary mapping table;

linking the mapping table to the description-external vocabulary mapping table; and

linking the external vocabulary table to the description-external vocabulary mapping table.

21. The method according to claim 20 , wherein the description-external vocabulary mapping table includes at least one column from the mapping table and at least one column from the external vocabulary table.

22. The method according to claim 20 , further comprising:

generating a deployment file, the generating step comprising:

referencing the description-external vocabulary mapping table; and

populating the deployment file with a plurality of entries, wherein each entry links a description with an external vocabulary identifier.

23. A method for implementing an interface terminology in a longitudinal electronic medical record, the interface terminology comprising a plurality of concepts and a plurality of descriptions, a description being an alternative way to express a concept, the method comprising:

linking, in a database, each concept to two or more respective descriptions via a directed graph structure;

storing, in a database, an external code set comprising a plurality of external codes;

mapping each concept to a respective external code via a directed graph structure; and

deploying a front-end file, the front-end file comprises a link between the descriptions and the external code set;

wherein each said respective concept provides a unique terminology for a user and can be added, updated, deleted, and merged;

wherein said descriptions in said database include terms used by both clinicians and patients;

wherein, for each concept, one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred description for the linked concept and one of said plurality of descriptions is a preferred consumer term for the linked concept;

wherein each said concept may map to more than one of said plurality of external codes; and

wherein said method for implementing an interface terminology serves the ends of capturing clinician's intent, driving financial aspects including billing, and driving analytical functions;

creating a longitudinal electronic medical record by:

generating a first instance of a plurality of data objects during a first encounter, said plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising a first instance identifier and temporal identifiers;

linking a data object in said first instance to a summarization reference with a pointer, where the plurality of data objects and the summarization reference are related as part of a directed graph data structure;

creating an additional instance of a plurality of data objects during a later encounter, said additional instance of a plurality of data objects comprising data elements further comprising an additional instance identifier and temporal identifier; and

providing continuity for said plurality of data objects of said first instance over time by tracking a relationship between said data object of said first instance and a data object of said additional instance;

tagging elements within a domain within the longitudinal electronic medical record with one or more of said plurality of descriptions; and

displaying the preferred descriptions and the preferred consumer term.

24. The method according to claim 23 , further comprising:

adding a new description for one of the concepts;

linking the new description to the concept; and

re-deploying the front-end file, the front-end file comprises a link between the new description and a code in the external code set;

wherein the re-deploying step occurs without the need to re-map the concept to its respective external code.

25. The method according to claim 23 , further comprising:

adding a new external code;

mapping at least one concept to the new external code; and

re-deploying the front-end file, the front-end file comprising a link between at least one description and the new external code;

wherein the mapping step occurs without the need to re-link the at least one description to the at least one concept.

26. The method according to claim 23 , wherein each concept resides in a domain, and further wherein each external code in the external code set maps to concepts in one domain.

27. The method according to claim 23 , wherein each concept resides in a domain, and further wherein each external code in the external code set maps to concepts in more than one domain.

28. The method according to claim 23 , wherein each concept includes a description that is the same as that concept.

29. The method according to claim 23 , wherein patient data is stored in an electronic health record using the interface terminology.