Direct comparison of MEDCIN and SNOMED CT for representation of a general medical evaluation template.

BACKGROUND: Two candidate terminologies to support entry of general medical data are SNOMED CT and MEDCIN. We compare the ability of SNOMED CT and MEDCIN to represent concepts and interface terms from a VA general medical examination template. METHODS: We parsed the VA general medical evaluation template and mapped the resulting expressions into SNOMED CT and MEDCIN. Internists conducted double independent reviews on 864 expressions. Exact concept level matches were used to evaluate reference coverage. Exact term level matches were required for interface terms. RESULTS: Sensitivity of SNOMED CT as a reference terminology was 83% vs. 25% for MEDCIN (p<0.001). The sensitivity of SNOMED CT as an interface terminology was 53% vs. 7% for MEDCIN (P< 0.001). DISCUSSION: The content coverage of SNOMED CT as a reference terminology and as an interface terminology outperformed MEDCIN. We did not evaluate other aspects of interface terminologies such as richness of clinical linkages.