A key aspect of successful SNOMED CT implementations is how the terminology is presented to the user to select clinical ideas to represent in medical records. For each use case, a User Interface is designed, where the user can search by entering terms or where the implementer prepares a structured UI that guides the user over a controlled set of options, appropriate for the scenario. 

Good Practices

is presenting users with an efficient and user-friendly interface to enter and display clinical data in healthcare records. SNOMED CT provides a range of features that help to support the search, entry and display of coded clinical terms in a health record. When SNOMED CT's design features are used effectively, high-quality coded data can be entered and stored in health records in an efficient way.

UI Design Principles

The key principles to consider in designing an effective SNOMED CT user interface (UI) includeThe DOCSEARCH covers all the considerations for developing SNOMED CT User Interfaces. From the content of the guide, these are 5 important considerations for the development of Search and Data Entry User Interfaces:

1. The UI should be customized customised to the use case
   • Different UIs for point of care data entry and SNOMED CT browsing.
   , e.g.
   • The UI requirements for data entry at the Point of Care are different to a SNOMED CT browser.
2. Text searching should be flexible, e.g.
   • Allow the user
   Text search should be flexible
   • Allow to search by partial matches, it . Searches should ignore the order of terms, and other normalizations could . Other normalizations of a search term can be applied in specific use cases.
3. Synonyms should be used to improve searching and selection, e.g.
   
   • The search term should be matched against all acceptable synonyms in the given language dialect (only for concepts in the relevant value set)
   • Only the preferred term should be displayed in the result list (a) to reduce the length of the result list, and (b) to ensure that the meaning of the concept is clearly represented
4. The display order of the results is important, e.g. 
   • A common technique is to order search results with
   • Ordering the shortest matching term first is a common technique, other options may apply in special use cases, like considering the frequency of use of each result. Other options, like displaying frequently used concepts earlier in the list, should be considered.
5. Structured data entry controls can be applied to support effective data entry and ensure consistent use of Conceptsconcepts, e.g.
   • Use suitable data controls, such as check boxes, drop-down lists or search fields,
   • Designing custom, structure data entry UIs where the user directly selects SNOMED CT content can simplify the use of SNOMED CT in very for specific use cases.
6. Data entry should be constrained for each specific scenario
   • Different parameters like refset memberships or concept ancestors can be applied to filter the options presented to the user to adjust the content to a particular use case or clinical specialty.

SNOMED CT User Interface Examples

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SNOMED International has prepared a demonstration available in: https://ihtsdo.github.io/snomed-ui-examples/.

This example simulates the user interface of a typical electronic clinical records application, allowing the user to represent diagnosis, procedures, allergies, etc. using different techniques described in the DOCSEARCH.

In this example common search and data entry techniques are in place:

1. data element using ECL queries, reference sets or other filtering mechanisms, e.g.
   • A 'Procedure' field may be constrained to only allow subtypes of Procedure (i.e. < 71388002 |Procedure|) to be entered.

For more information, please refer to the SNOMED CT Search and Data Entry Guide.

SNOMED CT Search Demo

SNOMED International provides a SNOMED CT search demo (http://snomed.org/ui) to showcase some of these best practice user interface design techniques.

This demonstrator provides an example user interface for a typical electronic health record application. It allows users to enter SNOMED CT into different clinical data elements (e.g. diagnoses, procedures, allergies), using a variety of recommended techniques from the DOCSEARCH, including:

• Only SNOMED CT terms are displayed on the UI (i.e. no identifiers are shown)
• Searches support partial term matching in any order - e.g. "asth alle" matches "allergic asthma"
• Searches are responsive - i.e. search results are adjusted dynamically as the user types more letters into the search term
• Searches can match on any synonym in the given language dialect - e.g. "heart attack", "infarc heart", or "card infarc" will all find 22298006 |Myocardial infarction|
• Only the preferred term of matching concepts is displayed in the result list - e.g. searching on "heart attack" will display "Myocardial infarction" in the result list
• Results are ordered with the concept associated with the shortest matching synonym first. Note that the length of the preferred term displayed is not considered; only the length of the synonym that matches the search term.
• A 'boost' feature is provided that increases the prominence of a selected set of concepts. This can be used to promote frequently used concepts, thereby reducing key strokes for data entry - e.g. searching for "diabetes" with the 'boost' feature turned on will move 'Type 1 diabetes mellitus' and 'Type 2 diabetes mellitus' higher in the result list.
• Search fields are constrained using dynamic ECL queries - e.g. a search for 
• The UI is customized for recording a clinical encounter
• Search supports partial matching with no order, for example, "asth alle" matches "allergic asthma"
• Results are sorted with the shorter results first, and it has an advanced feature of boosting results by prioritizing the most commonly used concepts, this can be tested by searching "diabetes" on the diagnosis field, with or without boosting enabled
• Fields are also constrained by domain, using ECLs, so searching for "appen" on the diagnosis field will match "appendicitis", and Appendicitis" (< 404684003 | Clinical finding |), while the same search in the procedures field , will match "appendectomy"
• The UI provides a very basic form of post-coordination that allows adding a "laterality" refinement to a lateralizable procedure
• The allergies and adverse reactions data entry panel shows how a more structured data entry UI can be implemented, with fields with other constraints, select fields, etc.

...

• Appendectomy" (< 404684003 |Procedure|)
• The UI uses the MRCM to validate inter-field dependencies - e.g. Only procedures that (a) have a |finding site| value that is a member of the Lateralizable body structure reference set, and (b) do not already have a laterality applied within its definition, are allowed to have a laterality (e.g. 'Left', 'Right') assigned by the user in the 'Laterality' field. If the selected procedure already has a laterality applied to its definition, then this value is auto-populated into the 'Laterality' field.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

• Search demo: http://snomed.org/ui 
• Demonstration guide: https://github.com/IHTSDO/snomed-ui-examples/.../Appendix A
• Source code: https://github.com/IHTSDO/snomed-ui-examples

Image AddedThis Demonstration Guide can help a user to go through the different components of the demonstration, explaining the rationale behind the design of the functionalities.

Other User Interface Demonstrators

Other SNOMED CT-enabled user interface demonstrators are available, as listed below.

Please note that this list of tools is provided in alphabetical order. To request the addition or removal of a tool to/from this list, please submit a request via the 'Feedback' button at the bottom of this page.