Articles

Developing SNOMED-CT for Decision Making and Data Gathering: A Software Prototype for Low Back Pain

Abstract

The issue of medical errors is currently a global concern which places a heavy financial and emotional burden on communities. A clinical decision support system (CDSS) is an electronic system designed to support clinical decision making. Considering the increasing importance and use of Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT), we developed SNOMED-CT to implement it more efficiently in making smart history taking, decisions to perform lab tests and imaging, diagnosis and recommendations. To evaluate these capabilities in real clinical problems, a new CDSS was compiled, aimed at supporting decisions on patients with a chief complaint of low back pain (LBP). A number of LBP differential diagnoses as well as some recommended indications and contraindications published by guidelines, were inputted to the database. Future software based on this model would help physicians to do necessary assessments and recommendations and might improve patients' safety.

Weingart SN, Wilson RM, Gibberd RW, Harrison B. Epidemiology of medical error. BMJ 2000;320(7237):774-7.

Office of News and Public Information News from the National Academies, National Academy of Sciences Medication errors injure 1.5 million people and cost billions of dollars annually: Report offers comprehensive strategies for reducing drug-related mistakes. 2006. Available from: www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?Re cordID=11623.

Elder NC, Dovey SM. Classification of medical errors and preventable adverse events in primary care: a synthesis of the literature. J Fam Pract 2002;51(11):927-32.

Kawamoto K, Houlihan CA, Balas EA, Lobach DF. Improving clinical practice using clinical decision support systems: a systematic review of trials to identify features critical to success. BMJ 2005;330(7494):765.

Bright TJ, Wong A, Dhurjati R, Bristow E, Bastian L, Coeytaux RR, et al. Effect of Clinical Decision-Support Systems: A Systematic Review. Ann Intern Med 2012;157(1):29-43.

SNOMED CT User Guide. The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO). 2012; Available from: http://ihtsdo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/doc/ug/index.html.

Elevitch FR. SNOMED CT: electronic health record enhances anesthesia patient safety. AANA J 2005;73(5):361-6.

Ciolko E, Lu F, Joshi A. Intelligent clinical decision support systems based on SNOMED CT. Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference 2010:6781-4.

Hoffmann AG. General Limitations on Machine Learning. European Conference on Articial Intelligence 1990:345-7.

Deyo RA, Diehl AK. Cancer as a cause of back pain: frequency, clinical presentation, and diagnostic strategies. J Gen Intern Med 1988;3(3):230-8.

Chou R, Qaseem A, Snow V, Casey D, Cross JT, Jr., Shekelle P, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: a joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American PainSociety. Ann Intern Med 2007;147(7):478-91.

Files
IssueVol 51, No 8 (2013) QRcode
SectionArticles
Keywords
Clinical decision Diagnostic decision support system Low back pain Systematized Nomenclature Medicine Clinical Terms

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Maheronnaghsh R, Nezareh S, Sayyah M-K, Rahimi-Movaghar V. Developing SNOMED-CT for Decision Making and Data Gathering: A Software Prototype for Low Back Pain. Acta Med Iran. 1;51(8):548-553.