Development and maintenance of a controlled vocabulary via an electronic collaborative platform

The development of electronic health records and clinical information systems has been progressing at a quickened pace in recent years. With such change, the use of standard vocabulary has aroused much interest. However, classification code sets are developed for their distinctive purposes, no single vocabulary set could satisfy the needs of all specialties; moreover, local customization would be inevitable. This poster describes how a controlled vocabulary with contribution from frontline clinicians was set up in Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA). The adoption of an electronic maintenance portal with collaboration of representatives from all institutions would also be discussed. The use of such table has helped to maintain the interoperability of captured data between departments, specialties and institutions.