Glossary

The Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®) is a set of files and software bringing together health and biomedical vocabularies and standards to enable interoperability between computer systems. The UMLS integrates and distributes key terminology, classification and coding standards, and associated resources to promote creation of more effective and interoperable biomedical information systems and services, including electronic health records. Software developers can use UMLS to enhance or develop applications, such as electronic health records, classification tools, dictionaries and language translators. Use of UMLS allows end users to view codes, synonyms, and definitions used terminologies such as Common Procedural Terminology and International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision-Clinical Modification and relationships between concepts. Access requires a free UMLS License.

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standardized methodology-independent approach to specifying, visualizing, modeling, and documenting the structure and design requirements of business processes, such as software development.

The US Core Implementation Guide (IG) is a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR®) IG that establishes a baseline set of FHIR profiles and requirements to support consistent access to and exchange of health information across U.S. healthcare systems. US Core profiles define how FHIR resources are constrained for U.S. use, including requirements for data elements, extensions, terminology, and other implementation expectations. The IG also defines FHIR RESTful interactions for accessing patient data.

US Core supports implementation of the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI), which defines a standardized set of health data classes and data elements for nationwide interoperable health information exchange. In simplified terms, USCDI identifies the high-level data that should be available for exchange, while US Core defines how those data are represented and exchanged using FHIR. The relationship is not always one-to-one: a USCDI data element may map to multiple FHIR elements or profiles, and US Core includes additional elements needed to make the information implementable in FHIR.

The usability and use criteria examine the extent to which potential audiences (e.g., consumers, payors, measured entities, policymakers) are using or could use performance results for accountability and performance improvement to achieve the goal of high-quality, efficient health care for individuals or populations. 

A use case is a unique instance of sharing a specific type of information regarding patients and their health. Each use case has a specific purpose, type of data exchanged, and rules for interactions between people and systems. Examples of use cases include immunization records sent to the state government for public health reporting, and admission notifications sent to doctors and other members of a care team when one of their patients has a hospital admission.

A user story is a succinct, plain-language description of a desired software feature written from the viewpoint of the end-user.