MedlinePlus Connect
MedlinePlus® Connect is a free, value-added, embedded service that allows electronic health records (EHRs) to link to current, authoritative, patient information available from the MedlinePlus® Web site. MedlinePlus®, developed and maintained by the National Library of Medicine, is a consumer health information site for patients, families, and health care providers that is composed of patient-focused materials about diseases, conditions, medications, and general health and wellness issues. Using MedlinePlus® Connect may benefit some health care providers by achieving one of the criteria for meaningful use of Health Information Technology.
Introduction
MedlinePlus® Connect accept requests for information based on standard diagnosis/problem codes and medications. Health topics in MedlinePlus are mapped to two standard coding systems: ICD and SNOMED.
The user of the EHR submits a request for information based on one of the supported diagnosis/problem codes. MedlinePlus Connect then matches the code with the most relevant health topic in MedlinePlus, and the patient-friendly information is sent back to the EHR. MedlinePlus Connect will retrieve up to three health topics for each submitted diagnosis/problem code. At the current time information requests in both English and Spanish are supported.
In addition to accessing information on hundreds of health topics, MedlinePlus® Connect can also retrieve medication information that is written specifically for patients. Two systems of medication codes are used and supported by MedlinePlus® Connect: RXCUI (RxNorm Concept Unique Identifier) and NDC (National Drug Code). The drug information retrieved by MedlinePlus® Connect comes from the publication, AHFS Consumer Medication Information, which is licensed for use on MedlinePlus® from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Currently only English language drug information is supported.
On the technical side, the application program interface for MedlinePlus® Connect is compliant with the HL7 specification.
There are no licensing or registration requirements for using MedlinePlus® Connect, but a flexible and customizable EHR that allows links to be added to the system is needed for implementation. Specific technical details are available from the MedlinePlus® Connect: Technical Information page, and for those interested in learning more about this service, there is an email discussion list.
Future enhancements of MedlinePlus® Connect include adding laboratory test responses, and support for an XML-based Web service.
References
- Dennis S, Miller N, Burgess S. MedlinePlus® Connect: Linking Electronic Health Records to Consumer Health Information. NLM Tech Bull. 2010 Nov-Dec;(377):e6.
- MedlinePlus® Connect: Overview
- MedlinePlus® Connect: Demonstration Page
- MedlinePlus® Connect: Technical Information
- MedlinePlus® Connect: Email List
- MedlinePlus®
Submitted by Kim Granath
