Healthcare: Central terminology server for more interoperability online

For more interoperability and a "reliable reference source", the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and Gematik, which is responsible for the digitalization of the healthcare system, have published a central terminology server. According to the BfArM, it represents an "important building block for the launch of the electronic patient file".

Ontologien und Terminologien in der Medizin

Terminologien und Ontologien können die Gesundheitsversorgung verbessern. Doch davon weiß kaum jemand etwas. In unserer Artikelserie lernen Sie, wie dadurch beispielsweise die Arzneimitteltherapiesicherheit verbessert wird. Doch auch in bekannten Anwendungen wie der elektronischen Patientenakte, der elektronischen Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, dem E-Rezept spielen sie eine Rolle.

• Ontologien und Terminologien: Teil 1 Medizinische KI-Entscheidungsunterstützung: Rolle von Terminologien & Ontologien
• Terminologien und Ontologien: Teil 2 Struktur und Erstellung von Terminologien und Ontologien in der Medizin
• Ontologien und Terminologien: Teil 3 Konkrete Anwendungsbeispiele: Arzneimitteltherapiesicherheit und mehr

The terminology server is intended to provide "all coding systems and value lists" that are required "for the electronic data exchange of medical content [...] across different software systems".

Structured data is important

According to the BfArM, the aim is to ensure that data from clinics, pharmacies and doctors' surgeries can be documented and interpreted in a standardized manner. However, the basis for "unambiguous data exchange" is structured data, which, with the exception of the electronic medication list –, does not exist for the time being with the electronic patient file planned for 2025.

"Many players in the healthcare sector have long formulated the need for a central point of contact. This should make all coding systems and value lists required for electronic data exchange in connection with the electronic patient record and beyond available reliably and in a single format in the long term," says Dr. Stefanie Weber, who heads the Coding Systems and Registers department at the BfArM.

While the BfArM provides the content on the server and ensures that it "can be correctly decoded over the entire life cycle of a person", Gematik is responsible for the technical operation, as the BfArM writes. Further development is being carried out "jointly in the D-A-CH area with the Austrian Electronic Health Record (ELGA) and eHealth Suisse". According to Gematik, these are based on "an implementation standard from HL7 International and open source technology".

"In the German healthcare system, there are a large number of terminologies in different formats. The central terminology server serves as a reliable reference source for coding systems, value lists and mappings and also ensures long-term availability in FHIR format," explains Ansgar Höper, Product Owner Team Data at Gematik GmbH.

(mack)