HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zimmerman, C. R. Articles by Laing, T. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zimmerman, C. R. Articles by Laing, T. J.

CHRISTOPHER R. ZIMMERMAN, PHARM.D., is Clinical Pharmacist and Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Decision Support; Department of Pharmacy Services, College of Pharmacy; BRUCE W. CHAFFEE, PHARM.D., is Clinical Pharmacist and Clinical Associate Professor, Clinical Outcomes, Department of Pharmacy Services, College of Pharmacy; JOSEPHINE LAZAROU, PHARM.D., is Manager, Medical Center Information Technology Process Management; CYNTHIA A. GINGRICH, M.S., is Project Manager, Enterprise Allergies, Medical Center Information Technology; CYNTHIA L. RUSSELL, M.S., is Senior Software Developer; MARYLOU GALBRAITH, M.S., is Senior Applications Systems Analyst and Programmer; NIPA K. KHATLAWALA, M.S., is Senior Applications Systems Analyst and Programmer; and TIMOTHY J. LAING, M.D., is Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Address correspondence to Dr. Zimmerman at MCIT-University of Michigan Health System, University of Michigan, Arbor Lakes, 4251 Plymouth Road, Suite 2301, Building 3, Floor 2, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (chriszim{at}med.umich.edu).

Purpose. The efforts, results, and challenges of a large tertiary care, academic health care system to standardize and integrate allergy information across clinical information systems are discussed. Summary. The University of Michigan Health System and its Information Technology Strategic Advisory Committee recognized the necessity for storing and maintaining allergy information in a single repository; therefore, the clinical data repository (CDR) was named as the central database for coded allergens and reactions for the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Care Centers (UMHHC) electronic medical record. The Enterprise Allergy Project (EAP) began in June 2005 with the formation of a steering committee that included representatives from clinical departments with order-entry systems. The initial phase of the EAP consisted of several components. One component was a one-time conversion of existing free-text allergy information into coded allergens and reactions. Before the implementation of the EAP, the order-entry system only supported the entry of uncoded allergen and reaction information. An initial process of allergy matching reduced the list of un-coded allergens from 272,519 to 29,500 by using terms that indicated no allergies were present and trimming and modifying free-text strings that closely matched or easily translated to a coded allergen counterpart. Another component of the EAP consisted of the interface and technical build to support allergy information processing between the CDR and University of Michigan (UM)-Carelink. One goal of the EAP was to transfer data bidirectionally, but that goal could not safely be accomplished. Conclusion. Implementing a strategy for enterprise allergy integration at UMHHC has improved the quality of allergy information documented as measured by a significant decrease in the amount of uncoded allergens. Index terms: Allergies; Computers; Hospitals; Information; Quality assurance; Records; Standards; Technology