A common language of care?

Abstract

Good information is a fundamental requirement of good patient care. Computer information systems are increasingly becoming the medium for recording, communicating and analysing information throughout the National Health Service, and amongst all the healthcare professions. The information we need, and that these systems must provide, includes not only the %ore' clinical, demographic and social data, but also terms describing the context and process of care. This paper discusses the task of collecting and organising a truly interprofessional but common terminology to provide an appropriate language for the process of care that can be effectively implemented in the information systems of the future.

Key Words:

• Care
• computer
• information
• language
• multidisciplinay
• terminology