Using LOINC to link an EMR to the pertinent paragraph in a structured reference knowledge base.

Intermountain Health Care has integrated the electronic medical record (EMR) with online information resources in order to create easy access to a knowledge base which practicing physicians can use at the point of care. When a user is reviewing problems/diagnosis, medications, or clinical laboratory test results, they can conveniently access a "pertinent paragraph" of reference literature that pertains to the clinical data in the EMR. Using terminology first coined by Cimino1, we call this application the "infobutton." We describe the architectural issues involved in linking our electronic medical record with a structured laboratory knowledge base. The application has been well received as noted by anecdotal comments made by physicians and usage of the application.