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Avoid Duplicates!  Avoid Duplicates!

When creating a new concept, use the "similar concepts" resources and/or search your dictionary carefully to be certain that there is not already a concept that meets your needs.

Concept Naming

  • Only use alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers) and simple punctuation sparingly (e.g., comma or parentheses).
    • Descriptions may contain non-alphanumeric characters
  • Sentence-casing is recommended – i.e., either all lowercase or uppercase first letter.
    • Avoid using all uppercase
    • For drug names, some people use Tall Man Lettering to uppercase certain parts of drug names that are confused by providers, since this has been proven to reduce medication errors.
  • Be consistent!
    • Consistency in naming helps users predict concept names and makes the dictionary much easier to manage.

Design for Re-use

Well-designed concepts can be used in several different contexts (e.g., multiple, different forms).

  • Avoid making your symptoms & diagnoses concepts boolean; rather, use datatype N/A for these and use them as answers (not questions).  This promotes re-use of these concepts.
    • POOR DESIGN: a boolean "HIV" concept answered yes/no based on whether or not the patient has HIV.
    • GOOD DESIGN: a coded  "DIAGNOSES" or "PROBLEM ADDED" concept that is answered with the concept HIV (the HIV concept has datatype N/A).

Others Tips

  • Always work with your end users to ensure the your concept names make sense to them and match their workflows.

See Also

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