oSIST prEN ISO 17117-1:2023

Health informatics - Terminological resources - Part 1: Characteristics (ISO 17117-1:2018)

ISO 17117-1:2018 defines universal and specialized characteristics of health terminological resources that make them fit for the purposes required of various applications. It refers only to terminological resources that are primarily designed to be used for clinical concept representation or to those parts of other terminological resources designed to be used for clinical concept representation.
ISO 17117-1:2018 helps users to assess whether a terminology has the characteristics or provides the functions that will support their specified requirements. The focus of this document is to define characteristics and functions of terminological resources in healthcare that can be used to identify different types of them for categorization purposes. Clauses 4 and 5 support categorization according to the characteristics and functions of the terminological resources rather than the name.
NOTE       Categorization of healthcare terminological systems according to the name of the system might not be helpful and has caused confusion in the past.
The target groups for this document are:
a)    organizations wishing to select terminological systems for use in healthcare information systems;
b)    developers of terminological systems;
c)    developers of terminology standards;
d)    those undertaking independent evaluations/academic reviews of terminological resources;
e)    terminology Registration Authorities.
ISO 17117-1:2018 contains general characteristics and criteria with which systems can be evaluated.
The following considerations are outside the scope of this document.
-      Evaluations of terminological resources.
-      Health service requirements for terminological resources and evaluation criteria based on the characteristics and functions.
-      The nature and quality of mappings between different terminologies. It is unlikely that a single terminology will meet all the terminology requirements of a healthcare organization: some terminology providers produce mappings to administrative or statistical classifications such as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The presence of such maps would be a consideration in the evaluation of the terminology.
-      The nature and quality of mappings between different versions of the same terminology. To support data migration and historical retrieval, terminology providers can provide maps between versions of their terminology. The presence of such maps would be a consideration in the evaluation of the terminology.
-      Terminology server requirements and techniques and tools for terminology developers.
-      Characteristics for computational biology terminology. Progress in medical science and in terminology science will necessitate updating of this document in due course.

Medizinische Informatik - Terminologische Ressourcen - Teil 1: Merkmale(ISO 17117-1:2018)

Informatique de santé - Ressources terminologiques - Partie 1: Caractéristiques (ISO 17117-1:2018)

Le présent document définit des caractéristiques universelles et propres aux ressources terminologiques en santé qui rendent ces dernières adaptées aux usages prescrits de différentes applications. Il concerne uniquement les ressources terminologiques, ou les parties d’autres ressources terminologiques, principalement conçues pour être utilisées à des fins de représentation de concepts cliniques.
Le présent document aide les utilisateurs à déterminer si une terminologie possède les caractéristiques ou propose les fonctions permettant de répondre à leurs exigences particulières. Le présent document porte principalement sur la définition des caractéristiques et fonctions liées aux ressources terminologiques dans le domaine des soins de santé et pouvant être utilisées pour identifier les différents types de ressources terminologiques à des fins de catégorisation. Les Articles 4 et 5 mettent en avant la catégorisation des ressources terminologiques selon leurs caractéristiques et leurs fonctions plutôt que selon leur intitulé.
NOTE            La catégorisation des systèmes terminologiques en soins de santé selon leur intitulé peut n’être d’aucune utilité et a été source de confusion par le passé.
Les groupes cibles du présent document sont les suivants:
a)       les organismes souhaitant choisir des systèmes terminologiques à intégrer aux systèmes d’information en soins de santé;
b)       les personnes chargées de l’élaboration de systèmes terminologiques;
c)        les personnes chargées de l’élaboration de normes terminologiques;
d)       les personnes effectuant des évaluations indépendantes/revues académiques des ressources terminologiques;
e)       les organismes d’enregistrement de la terminologie.
Le présent document contient des caractéristiques et des critères généraux grâce auxquels les systèmes peuvent être évalués.
Les considérations suivantes ne relèvent pas du domaine d’application du présent document:
—     les évaluations des ressources terminologiques;
—     les exigences des services de santé concernant les ressources terminologiques et les critères d’évaluation basés sur les caractéristiques et fonctions de ces ressources;
—     la nature et la qualité des mises en correspondance des différentes terminologies. Il semble peu probable qu’une terminologie unique réponde à toutes les exigences terminologiques d’un organisme de soins de santé: certains fournisseurs de terminologie effectuent des mises en correspondances avec des classifications statistiques ou administratives, comme la Classification internationale des maladies (CIM). De telles correspondances sont à prendre en considération dans l’évaluation de la terminologie;
—     la nature et la qualité des mises en correspondance des différentes versions d’une même terminologie. Pour aider à la migration des données et à la récupération de l’historique, les fournisseurs de terminologie peuvent mettre à disposition les correspondances entre les différentes versions de leur terminologie. De telles correspondances sont à prendre en considération dans l’évaluation de la terminologie;
—     les exigences relatives aux serveurs terminologiques ainsi que les techniques et outils disponibles pour les personnes chargées de l’élaboration de terminologies;
—     les caractéristiques de la terminologie de la biologie computationnelle. Les progrès effectués dans les domaines de la médecine et de la science de la terminologie nécessiteront de mettre à jour le présent document en temps

Zdravstvena informatika - Terminološki viri - 1. del: Značilnosti (ISO 17117-1:2018)

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 14-May-2023
• ICS: 01.020 - Terminology (principles and coordination)
• ICS: 35.240.80 - IT applications in health care technology
• Technical Committee: ITC - Information technology
• Current Stage: 4020 - Public enquire (PE) (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 23-Mar-2023
• Due Date: 10-Aug-2023
• Completion Date: 18-May-2023
• Ref Project: EN ISO 17117-1:2023 - Health informatics - Terminological resources - Part 1: Characteristics (ISO 17117-1:2018)

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN ISO 17117-1:2023
01-maj-2023
Zdravstvena informatika - Terminološki viri - 1. del: Značilnosti (ISO 17117-1:2018)
Health informatics - Terminological resources - Part 1: Characteristics (ISO 17117-
1:2018)
Medizinische Informatik - Terminologische Ressourcen - Teil 1: Merkmale(ISO 17117-
1:2018)
Informatique de santé - Ressources terminologiques - Partie 1: Caractéristiques (ISO
17117-1:2018)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN ISO 17117-1
ICS:
01.020 Terminologija (načela in Terminology (principles and
koordinacija) coordination)
35.240.80 Uporabniške rešitve IT v IT applications in health care
zdravstveni tehniki technology
oSIST prEN ISO 17117-1:2023 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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oSIST prEN ISO 17117-1:2023
INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 17117-1
First edition
2018-04
Health informatics — Terminological
resources —
Part 1:
Characteristics
Informatique de santé — Ressources terminologiques —
Partie 1: Caractéristiques
Reference number
ISO 17117-1:2018(E)
©
ISO 2018

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ISO 17117-1:2018(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2018
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

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Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 2
3 Terms and definitions . 2
4 Characteristics of terminological resources in the health domain .8
4.1 Basics . 8
4.2 Pre-coordinated characteristics aiming at identification of a specific concept/term . 9
4.2.1 Term identifier . 9
4.2.2 Concept identifier . 9
4.2.3 Concept orientation . .10
4.3 Characteristics related to extensibility for concept representations .10
4.3.1 Characteristics to specify more detailed concepts .10
4.3.2 Characteristics to broaden coverage of concepts .11
4.4 Characteristics related to data aggregation or classification .12
4.4.1 General.12
4.4.2 Mutual exclusiveness.12
4.4.3 Exhaustiveness .12
4.5 Characteristics related to formal concept representation and semantic interoperability .12
4.5.1 Compositionality .12
4.5.2 Hierarchical relation .13
4.5.3 Associative relation .14
4.5.4 Categorial structure .14
4.5.5 Semantic consistency .14
4.6 Characteristics related to maintenance of terminological resources .15
4.6.1 Context-free identifiers .15
4.6.2 Persistence of identifiers .15
4.6.3 Version identifier .15
4.6.4 Editorial information .15
4.6.5 Obsolete marking .15
4.6.6 Responsiveness .16
5 Functions invoked by a certain set of characteristics .16
5.1 Basics .16
5.2 Data capture .16
5.2.1 General.16
5.2.2 Extensibility for concept representation .17
5.2.3 Providing semantically consistent formal concept representation .17
5.3 Display/presentation/identification .17
5.3.1 General.17
5.3.2 Accessing concepts using terminology structure .18
5.4 Data aggregation for statistical analysis .18
5.5 Reasoning .19
5.5.1 Reasoning of internal consistency .19
5.6 Maintenance-related functions .19
5.6.1 Concept permanence.19
5.6.2 Version control .20
Annex A (informative) Selected definitions from ISO 1087-1 .21
Annex B (informative) Relations between characteristics, functions, requirements and
evaluation criteria of terminological resources .28
Annex C (informative) Relations among terminological resources .29
Bibliography .30
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Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following
URL: www .iso .org/iso/foreword .html.
This document was prepared by ISO/TC 215, Health informatics.
This first edition of ISO 17117-1 cancels and replaces ISO/TS 17117:2002, which has been technically
revised.
A list of all the parts of ISO 17117 is available on the ISO website.
iv © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

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Introduction
Health terminology is complex and multifaceted. It has been estimated that up to 45 million different
terms are needed to adequately describe health-related concepts like conditions of patients and
populations, actions in healthcare and related concepts, such as medicines, biomedical molecules,
[3]
genes, organisms, technical methods and social concepts . Many formal and less formal terminological
resources exist to represent this complexity. These may be called terminological systems, coding
systems, formal concept representation systems, classification systems, and others. Specific features
of different terminological resources make them more or less useful for particular purposes and
technological environments.
The need for formal terminological resources to support health information management has
[6][7][8]
been widely recognized . Such resources are required for precise data collection, accurate
[7]
interpretation of data and interoperability among information systems that exchange such data .
National governments, healthcare organizations and others are currently concerned with the question
of which of the available terminological resources will meet their requirements, i.e. they wish to
‘assign value’ to specific terminological resources to decide which are suitable for their purposes and
healthcare contexts.
A set of criteria to support such evaluations was originally published by ISO in 2002 (ISO/TS 17117). The
main purpose was to enable users to assess whether a terminological resource has the characteristics
that will support their specified requirements, since the characteristics of a terminological resource
influence its utility and appropriateness in applications. There has been much progress in the study and
[9][10]
use of terminological resources since that time and some experience of formal evaluations . This
revision updates the original Technical Specification with a revised scope and purpose commensurate
with present and future healthcare and technology contexts, incorporating new definitional standards
where relevant.
As the first part of the entire revision work, this document (ISO 17117-1) identifies the characteristics of
terminological resources in healthcare (Clause 4) and functions or roles invoked by those characteristics
(Clause 5). This document also provides a framework to identify different types of terminological
resources using a combination of those characteristics and functions, which is essential for the
development of criteria for the categorization of terminological resources in healthcare. Requirements
for, and evaluation criteria of, terminological resources in healthcare, which will be addressed in the
future parts of ISO 17117, are tightly related to the characteristics of terminological resources and
functions that they can provide.
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oSIST prEN ISO 17117-1:2023
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 17117-1:2018(E)
Health informatics — Terminological resources —
Part 1:
Characteristics
1 Scope
This document defines universal and specialized characteristics of health terminological resources
that make them fit for the purposes required of various applications. It refers only to terminological
resources that are primarily designed to be used for clinical concept representation or to those parts of
other terminological resources designed to be used for clinical concept representation.
This document helps users to assess whether a terminology has the characteristics or provides
the functions that will support their specified requirements. The focus of this document is to define
characteristics and functions of terminological resources in healthcare that can be used to identify
different types of them for categorization purposes. Clauses 4 and 5 support categorization according
to the characteristics and functions of the terminological resources rather than the name.
NOTE Categorization of healthcare terminological systems according to the name of the system might not be
helpful and has caused confusion in the past.
The target groups for this document are:
a) organizations wishing to select terminological systems for use in healthcare information systems;
b) developers of terminological systems;
c) developers of terminology standards;
d) those undertaking independent evaluations/academic reviews of terminological resources;
e) terminology Registration Authorities.
This document contains general characteristics and criteria with which systems can be evaluated.
The following considerations are outside the scope of this document.
— Evaluations of terminological resources.
— Health service requirements for terminological resources and evaluation criteria based on the
characteristics and functions.
— The nature and quality of mappings between different terminologies. It is unlikely that a single
terminology will meet all the terminology requirements of a healthcare organization: some
terminology providers produce mappings to administrative or statistical classifications such as the
International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The presence of such maps would be a consideration
in the evaluation of the terminology.
— The nature and quality of mappings between different versions of the same terminology. To support
data migration and historical retrieval, terminology providers can provide maps between versions
of their terminology. The presence of such maps would be a consideration in the evaluation of the
terminology.
— Terminology server requirements and techniques and tools for terminology developers.
— Characteristics for computational biology terminology. Progress in medical science and in
terminology science will necessitate updating of this document in due course.
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2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http: //www .electropedia .org/
NOTE Selected terms from ISO 1087-1 are given in Annex A as background to the terms and definitions in
Clause 3.
3.1 General terms
3.1.1
concept
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics
Note 1 to entry: Informally, the term ‘concept’ is often used when what is meant is ‘concept representation’.
However, this leads to confusion when precise meanings are required. Concepts arise out of human individual
and social conceptualizations of the world around them. Concept representations are artefacts constructed of
symbols.
Note 2 to entry: Concept representations are not necessarily bound to particular languages. However, they are
influenced by the social or cultural context of use often leading to different categorizations.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.1, modified]
3.1.2
term
linguistic representation of a concept in a specific subject field
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.4.3, modified]
3.1.3
characteristic
abstraction of a property of an object or of a set of objects
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.4]
3.1.4
term identifier
sequence of letters, numbers or symbols, capable of uniquely identifying a term within the terminological
resource
Note 1 to entry: Term identifier shall be unique within the terminological resource.
3.1.5
concept identifier
canonical expression (3.3.5), or sequence of letters, numbers or symbols, capable of uniquely identifying
a concept within the terminological resource
Note 1 to entry: Concept identifier shall be unique within the terminological resource, so terms shall not be used
for the purpose here in case polysemy exists.
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3.1.6
code
identifier expressed by a series of letters, numbers, or symbols
Note 1 to entry: A code is a concept identifier (3.1.5) when used in a coding system (3.4.4).
3.1.7
terminological resource identifier
unique permanent identifier of a terminological resource (3.4.1) for use in information interchange
Note 1 to entry: This is equivalent to Health Coding Scheme Designator in EN 1068:2005 for registration of
coding systems.
Note 2 to entry: Globally unique schemes such as OIDs, UUIDs, and URIs may be used for this purpose.
3.1.8
terminological resource version identifier
version identifier
identifier assigned to a version under which a terminological resource (3.4.1) is published or updated
3.1.9
coding scheme
collection of rules that maps the elements in one set, the “coded set”, onto the elements in a second set,
“the code set”
Note 1 to entry: The two sets are not part of the coding scheme.
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.7.2, modified]
3.1.10
composite characteristic
representation of a characteristic (3.1.3)
EXAMPLE has Cause Bacteria; Location = LeftUpperLobeOfLung.
Note 1 to entry: Typically expressed by a semantic link (3.2.5) and a characterizing concept (3.1.11).
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.2.1]
3.1.11
characterizing concept
concept that is referenced by a semantic link (3.2.5) in a composite characteristic (3.1.10)
EXAMPLE “Bacterium” in the construct “Disease that has Cause Bacterium”; “Yellow” in the construct “Skin
Lesion that has Colour Yellow”.
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.2.2]
3.1.12
characterizing generic concept
characterizing category
value domain
formal category whose specialization by a domain constraint (3.1.14) is allowed to be used as
characterizing concept (3.1.11) in a particular context
EXAMPLE 1 = {bacterium, virus, parasite}, in the context of “infection that has
Cause INFECTIOUS_ORGANISM”.
EXAMPLE 2 has Cause Bacteria; Location = LeftUpperLobeOfLung.
Note 1 to entry: The context includes a superordinate concept and a semantic link.
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.3.3]
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3.1.13
sanctioned characteristic
formal representation of a type of characteristics (3.1.3)
EXAMPLE 1 performed Using ; hasLocation .
EXAMPLE 2 “Cause Of Inflammation can Be set {bacteria, virus, parasite, autoimmune, chemical, physical}”,
where “can Be” is the semantic link, and “set{bacteria, virus, parasite, autoimmune, chemical, physical}” is the
characterizing generic concept.
Note 1 to entry: A sanctioned characteristic is typically made up of a combination of a semantic link (3.2.5) and a
characterizing generic concept (3.1.12), and can be used in domain constraints (3.1.14).
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.3.1]
3.1.14
domain constraint
sanction rule prescribing the set of sanctioned characteristics (3.1.13) that are valid to specialize a
concept in a certain subject field
EXAMPLE “Infection possibly has Location Skeletal Structure” describes that an infection in a certain
context can be located in a structure that is a kind of skeletal structure.
Note 1 to entry: The rule describes the set of potential characteristics by combining the semantic link (3.2.5)
and the characterizing generic concept (3.1.12) it links to, possibly by enumeration of the concepts in the
characterizing generic concept.
Note 2 to entry: Different levels of sanctioning are possible (e.g. conceivable, sensible, normal, usually In The
Context Of, necessary).
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.3.2]
3.2 Relations between concepts
3.2.1
generic relation
generalization-specialization relation
relation between two concepts where the intension of one of the concepts includes that of the other
concept and at least one additional delimiting characteristic
Note 1 to entry: A generic relation exists between the concepts ‘word’ and ‘pronoun’, ‘vehicle’ and ‘car’, ‘person’
and ‘child’.
Note 2 to entry: This relation is equivalent to ‘parent-child’ or ‘is-a’ relation. The child concept has the same
intension as the parent concept and at least one additional delimiting characteristic. Also the same in X ‘is-a’ Y.
Note 3 to entry: The use of the term ‘relation’ from an English perspective means that this is describing the
concept (i.e. this concept is a generic relation of another concept) not the relationship. However, the ‘generic
relation’ here means the relationship itself, not a concept.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.21, modified]
3.2.2
partitive relation
whole-part relation
relation between two concepts where one of the concepts constitutes the whole and the other concept
a part of that whole
Note 1 to entry: A partitive relation exists between the concepts ‘week’ and ‘day’, ‘molecule’ and ‘atom’.
Note 2 to entry: This relation is different from generic relation (3.2.1). For example, a day is part of a week, but is
not a specialization of a week, i.e. it is not a type of week.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.22, modified]
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3.2.3
hierarchical relation
relation between two concepts which may be either a generic relation (3.2.1) or a partitive relation (3.2.2)
EXAMPLE Relations such as ‘stomach’ ↔ ‘organ’ and ‘stomach’ ↔ ‘body’ are hierarchical relations, but the
former is a generic relation and the latter is a partitive relation.
Note 1 to entry: Partitive relations (3.2.2) have several sub-types, such as “constitutional part of”, “regional part
of”, “grouped by”, and so on, which are also hierarchical types of relations.
Note 2 to entry: A characteristic which is explicitly identified in the terminological resource may be used to
determine a hierarchy, and includes declaration of directionality. There may be more than one such characteristic
in which case the terminological resource can be said to have “poly-hierarchy”. The characteristic must have a
value in the two concepts at either end of the relation which can be compared to determine the hierarchy.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.20, modified]
3.2.4
associative relation
pragmatic relation
relation between two concepts having a non-hierarchical thematic connection by virtue of experience
EXAMPLE The relation between disease “X” and virus “Y” is not a hierarchical but an associative relation.
The relation exists under a certain theme of interest (e.g. “a disease and its causative agent”) and explicitly
recognized by virtue of experience.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000, 3.2.23, modified]
3.2.5
semantic link
formal representation of a directed associative relation (3.2.4) or partitive relation (3.2.2) between two
concepts
EXAMPLE hasCause (with inverse isCauseOf).
Note 1 to entry: This includes all relations except the generic relation (3.2.1)
Note 2 to entry: A semantic link always has an inverse, i.e. another semantic link with the opposite direction.
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.2.3]
3.3 Formal concept representation
3.3.1
axiomatic concept representation
atomic concept representation
concept representation that is not composed of other simpler concept representations within a formal
(concept representation) system (3.4.7)
EXAMPLE ‘Liver’, ‘Incision act’, ‘Pain’
Note 1 to entry: In many cases, axiomatic concept representations will correspond to what philosophers call
“natural kinds”. Such an entity cannot be meaningfully decomposed. These should form the basis of all concept
representations.
Note 2 to entry: A coding system may include axiomatic concept representations as well as compositional concept
representations required for different use cases.
[SOURCE: ISO 17115:2007, 2.4.2, modified]
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3.3.2
compositional concept representation
composite concept representation
intensional definition of a concept using as delimiting characteristics one or more composite
characteristics (3.1.10)
Note 1 to entry: Each characterizing concept (3.1.11) in a composite characteristic (3.1.10) may be axiomatic
concept representation (3.3.1) or another compositional concept representation.
Note 2
...