Ontological representation of adverse drug reactions using the Foundational Model of Anatomy.

In a previous work we proposed a categorial structure for the representation of adverse drug reactions consisting of 16 semantic categories and 20 relations. We present an implementation of this categorial structure in Protégé based on four WHO-ART system organ classes: Gastro-intestinal system disorders, Liver and biliary system disorders, Central & peripheric nervous system disorders, and Psychiatric disorders. We compared classification according to anatomy using SNOMED CT within the PharmARTS tool and the FMA with the Pellet reasoner. This ontology contains 210 concepts for Gastroenterology, 66 concepts for Psychiatry and 85 concepts for Neurology. Classification of disorders located in the upper gastro intestinal tract was similar using both SNOMED CT and the FMA. This work is a first step towards the comparison of two models of anatomy within a common ontology of adverse drug reactions.

An Ontology driven collaborative development for biomedical terminologies: from the French CCAM to the Australian ICHI coding system.

The CCAM French coding system of clinical procedures was developed between 1994 and 2004 using, in parallel, a traditional domain expert's consensus method on one hand, and advanced methodologies of ontology driven semantic representation and multilingual generation on the other hand. These advanced methodologies were applied under the framework of an European Union collaborative research project named GALEN and produced a new generation of biomedical terminology. Following the interest in several countries and in WHO, the GALEN network has tested the application of the ontology driven tools to the existing reduced Australian ICHI coding system for interventions presently under investigation by WHO to check its ability and appropriateness to become the reference international coding system for procedures. The initial results are presented and discussed in terms of feasibility and quality assurance for sharing and maintaining consistent medical knowledge and allowing diversity in linguistic expressiveness of end users.

From DRG databases to an epidemiological observatory for colorectal cancer in a French small area oncology network.

Following a request from the local health authority, we have organised the permanent linkage of DRG/MBDS databases from different tertiary care hospitals from Saint-Etienne urban area. To made anonymous the MBDS, we used the asymmetric hashing and encrypting software developed and registered by the University hospital of Dijon. In each hospital, the selection of acute care stay MBDS is performed on the presence of at least one malignant tumour ICD code. The output is an anonymous but personal 20,000 patients register. We are presenting the method to estimate the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) cured between 1996 and 2000 from DRG databases of four hospitals and checking the validity against the figures coming from a cancer registry. Among the 1953 CRC patients observed, 156 patients have followed a CRC surgical excising in 1999. The DRG activity of the 4 observatory hospitals is 33.5% of the total hospital activity for people of the area recorded by the 1999 regional DRG PMSI data bases. The estimation of the incidence is 465 for 1999, the estimation of the same incidence by applying the incidence rate by sex and age from the Isère cancer register to the population of the Loire area, is 504. The under estimation is 7.7% with the observatory method. It is rather difficult to check an estimation by another estimation but in France the evaluation of oncology care strategies is impeded by the lack of cancer registries. The conclusion of this study is a good feasibility and acceptability of the linking procedure when used with a clear healthcare goal. The use of DRG data bases within an oncology network by linking the mandatory MBDS data bases gives the opportunity to share some clinical data between healthcare professionals.

The development of CCAM: the new French coding system of clinical procedures.

A new French coding system of clinical procedures, the Classification Commune Des Actes Medicaux (CCAM), has been developed at the turn of the millennium (between 1996 and 2001). Two methodologies were used: a traditional domain-experts consensus method, and an artificial-intelligence-based semantic representation. An economic evaluation of clinical procedures was also undertaken for the rating for fee-for-service payment. We present the methodologies used and stress how the European Union research project, 'European Consortium, Generalised Architecture for Languages, Encyclopaedias and Nomenclatures in Medicine' (GALEN), facilitated the sharing and maintaining of consistent medical knowledge. This country case study highlights the significant cost to individual countries in developing their own classifications in isolation. It also demonstrates the benefits of contributing to international efforts such as GALEN that enable harmonisation, yet still allow for diversity.