Controlled Vocabularies in Medicine
A quick look at some of the controlled vocabs developed and/or being used at the National Library of Medicine

RxNorm

Norm provides standard names for clinical drugs (active ingredient + strength + dose form) and for dose forms as administered to a patient. It provides links from clinical drugs, both branded and generic, to their active ingredients, drug components (active ingredient + strength), and related brand names. NDCs (National Drug Codes) for specific drug products (where there are often many NDC codes for a single product) are linked to that product in RxNorm. RxNorm links its names to many of the drug vocabularies commonly used in pharmacy management and drug interaction software, including those of First Databank, Micromedex, MediSpan, and Multum. By providing links between these vocabularies, RxNorm can mediate messages between systems not using the same software and vocabulary.

Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC®)

LOINC is one of a suite of designated standards for use in U.S. Federal Government systems for the electronic exchange of clinical health information. LOINC is likely to become a HIPAA standard for some segments of the Claims Attachment transaction. In 1999, it was identified by the HL7 Standards Development Organization as a preferred code set for laboratory test names in transactions between health care facilities, laboratories, laboratory testing devices, and public health authorities.

SNOMED Clinical Terms® (SNOMED CT®)

Produced by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine–Clinical Terms) is a comprehensive clinical terminology formed by the convergence of SNOMED RT® and the United Kingdom’s Clinical Terms Version 3 (formerly known as the Read Codes).

SNOMED CT is one of a suite of designated standards for use in U.S. Federal Government systems for the electronic exchange of clinical health information. SNOMED CT is being implemented throughout the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.

NOTE: This post is the first in our new controlled vocabularies collection.

Source: NLM

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