Achieving automated narrative text interpretation using phrases in the electronic medical record.

Stereotypic phrases are used by clinicians throughout the medical record, as seen in an analysis of our COSTAR medical record database. These phrases are often associated with an underling semantic concept; for example the phrase CLEAR LUNGS may be linked with the concept "normal lung exam" for a particular physician. Formalizing these associations with concepts from the UMLS using the MEDPhrase application allowed us to automate interpretation of narrative text within our electronic medical record.