What is concept oriented vocabulary and why is it important for dermatology to have one?
To be useful in computer terms, a word or groups of words that represent a specific entity cannot be ambiguous with more than one meaning and cannot be vague. As a simple example in the medical field, a computerized record may not identify the correct meaning of the word “cold,” as this word can ambiguously mean “common cold” or refer to “cold temperature.” “Diabetes” is vague in that could mean Diabetes Insipidus or Diabetes Mellitus. Diagnostic concepts should be thought of as a standard. Consider if the aviation industry used regional and individual vocabularies when communicating between pilot and controller. Imagine the implications of four different terms describing direction on a runway. Similarly, physicians have just the same requirement for accuracy and precision. Therefore words must be defined as concepts with unique codes.
