There are a lot of issues with implementing taxonomies – designing, building, and of course the technical swarm of terms. These challenges are typically what get all the attention and focus. What is quite often forgotten and of equal importance, if not more, is governance.
With all the talk of heathcare costs in the current form of healthcare, the talk of universal healthcare makes many fear it will rise to levels beyond our imagination. Those involved in the rally for Occupy Wall Street scare the same people for similar reasons.
Many healthcare professionals are worried that reimbursements will decline drastically after the ICD-10 implementation in 2013. Some are even comparing it to the mortage crisis.
IBM has received a federal patent for “ontology-based network search engine.” Four co-inventors were named.
We have talked before about the deadline most healthcare providers are counting down to – October 1, 2013. This is the day that ICD-10 will be the new standard for coding and billing. Providers must be compliant or else. Else equals a dramatic impact on their cash flow and bottom line.
Few would argue about the growing volumes of data our digital lives have created. Many look to semantic technologies as a solution, or at least enhance processing and analyzing data. The constant challenge is the data was mostly published for human consumption and software finds it a challenge to format that which it doesn’t understand.
Mediabistro has announced the program for its Semantic Tech & Business Conference scheduled for November 29-December 1, 2011 in Washington, D.C. This conference covers the latest innovations in Semantic Web and linked data technologies.
Just the word taxonomy can confuse people, let alone the application. First they ask, “oh is that where you preserve dead animals?” Then they think it has something to do with the IRS. When you finally get them to understand it is a classification system, they have flashbacks to high school biology class. Taxonomy unfortunately has that effect on many, and that is sad. It is just bringing order to a group of items and identifying relationships. It’s not rocket science.