User:Dwhsoh/sandbox

History
MEDCIN was initially developed by Peter S. Goltra, founder of Medicomp Systems “as an intelligent clinical database for documentation at the time of care." The first few years of the development were spent in designing the structure of a knowledge engine that would enable the population of relationships between clinical events. Since 1978, the MEDCIN database engine has been continuously refined and expanded to include concepts from clinical histories, test, physical examination, therapies and diagnoses to enable coding of complete patient encounters with the collaborations of physicians and teaching institutions such as Cornell, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins.

Hierarchical Structure
MEDCIN data elements are organized in multiple clinical hierarchies, where users can easily navigate to a medical term by following down the tree of clinical propositions. This hierarchical structure provides clinical users a logical presentation structures through the inheritance of clinical properties between data elements. The linkage of MEDCIN data elements through the use of describing many diagnoses in the diagnostic index creates multiple hierarchies. The MEDCIN engine uses intelligent prompting and navigation tools to enable physicians to select specific terms that they need rather than having to create new terms for rapid documentation.

Enhances EHRs usability
MEDCIN has been specifically designed as an interface terminology to include components to make EHRs more usable when it is used in conjunction with the physician and nursing documentation tools developed by the same software company.

Integration to most EHRs and Legacy systems
MEDCIN terminology engine can be easily integrated into existing EHRs and legacy systems to enable mapping of existing terminologies and other coding systems such as ICD-9, ICD-19, CPT-4ICD, DSM®, CTP, LOINC® and Snomed CT® to generate seamless codified data at point of care. MEDCIN’s interoperability features enable easy access and sharing of patient data between health care facilities.

Users
MEDCIN has been implemented into several commercial EHR systems as an interface terminology to support integrated care, clinical documentation, health maintenance monitoring and disease management, and the care planning functions of physicians, nurses and allied health professionals. Such users include MedcomSoft Record (developed by MedcomSoft Inc) and the United States Department of Defence’s (DoD) EHR system, the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA).

MedcomSoft Record
In 2006, MedcomSoft Inc. introduced an interoperable EHR system, MedcomSoft Record, that integrates with MEDCIN engine.

AHLTA
AHLTA is and EHR system developed for the US Department of Defence. This application uses the Medicomp’s MEDCIN terminology engine for clinical documentation purposes. Figure 1, shows an example of the MEDCIN terminology where the physician can search for the correct terms for input into the patient note.

Links to Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System
The CCC System nursing plan of care (POC) was developed by Medicomp Systems, for the MEDCIN engine and knowledgebase for inpatient and ambulatory care. The CCC System nursing module is directly linked to the MEDCIN engine to create a patient plan of care by extracting a pool of documentation from the EHR history. The CCC nursing terminology is integrated into the MEDCIN clinical database through a contextual hierarchical tree, providing an array of terminology standards and concepts with Intelligent Prompting capabilities of the MEDCINE engine. “MEDCIN uses a diagnostic index to provide a method to link signs and symptoms and as well clinical diagnoses to CCC nursing diagnoses, interventions, goals, actions and outcome.”

ICD-10 AM Ready
In August 2012, Medicomp Systems released the new updated version of the MEDCIN Engine embedded with ICD-10 AM mappings and functionality. This new version is specially designed to make the ICD-10 more usable in the EHR systems by providing clinicians easier access to bi-directional mappings, accurate data and codes through their EHR products.