Seamless integration of knowledge and data is a requirement for modern healthcare systems. Being able to respond quickly to a patient’s needs is priority. With various information systems being utilized to streamline and automate patient care processes, semantic technology is a need of its own.

Ontologies are possibly the most significant benefit to ensuring accurate data integration, which fosters a better understanding of patient needs, thus resulting in better patient care and excellent patient outcomes. This was the key point in the article titled, “Healthcare IT Efficiency – Semantic Technologies Are Key.”

Semantic technologies excel at extracting knowledge and critical information from the various information systems within a healthcare organization’s databases. They can reduce difficult data integration issues and promote data reuse, sharing, and common vocabularies among the information systems. Ontologies can provide an invaluable component to improved patient care and outcomes by supporting critical healthcare processes and decision-making. So who you choose for ontology development is ever more important when dealing with healthcare and patient care. Access Innovations is one of a very small number of companies able to help its clients generate ISO/ANSI/NISO compliant taxonomies to produce comprehensive results.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.