The need for a concept-based medication vocabulary as an enabling infrastructure in health informatics

Users of drug information typically focus their attention at different levels of description in different situations, such as medication ordering or dispensing. Computer systems utilizing drug information to support such activities must accommodate these multiple perspectives. This paper presents an approach to conceptualizing drug descriptions at multiple levels and outlines key features of an underlying information model that can serve as the basis for a concept-oriented medication vocabulary. These features include dose forms, routes of administration, as well as links to multiple drug classification schemes and medical problems. Implementation, standards, and maintenance issues related to the model are also discussed.