MedlinePlus Connect: Linking
EHRs and Patient Portals to
Quality Health Information
Renae Barger, Executive Director, National Network of
Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
(NN/LM)
• NN/LM, formerly Regional Medical Library Program
• Established in the Medical Library Assistance Act (1965)
• Mission
• Provide health professionals and the general public with equal
access to biomedical information
• Coordinated by the National Library of Medicine, National
Institutes of Health
• 8 Regional Offices
• Support Network members to achieve NN/LM mission
• 5-year contracts
NN/LM: 8 Regional Offices
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
• Division of the National Institutes of Health
• World’s largest biomedical library
• Produces free, authoritative electronic health information
resources
• Not a commercial vendor
• Government tax dollars at work!
• Differentiate between 3 NLM resources with similar names
• MEDLINE (PubMed) -> world’s biomedical literature
• MedlinePlus.gov -> premier consumer health database
• MedlinePlus Connect -> link directly to MedlinePlus from EHR/PHR
• National Institutes of Health's Web site of authoritative
information for patients and their families
• Resources for health professionals
• Created and maintained by the National Library of Medicine
“…a goldmine of good health information from the world's largest medical
library, the National Library of Medicine. Health professionals and
consumers alike can depend on it for information that is authoritative and
up-to-date.”
(Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, Director, National Library of
Medicine)
• 900+ health topics
• Reviewed twice/year -> new links added daily -> vetted by NIH
• Pre-formulated searches of the MEDLINE/PubMed database to link to
biomedical research
• Summaries aim for 5th to 8th grade reading level
• Date last updated - when information was added to or removed from
that page
• Topic last reviewed -when the entire topic was systematically reviewed
• Update dates on external pages depend on the schedule of the
sponsoring organization
• Focus on publications produced by the NIH Institutes and other Federal
Government organizations -> links to other sites with accurate science-based
information
• A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia
• Medical images and videos, articles about diseases, tests, symptoms,
injuries, and surgeries.
• Updated monthly
• Information on prescription and nonprescription drugs
• American Society of Health System Pharmacists
• Updated monthly
• Interactive tutorials from the Patient Education Institute
• Explain over 165 procedures and conditions in easy-to-read language
• Updated annually
• 5th to 6th grade reading level
• Easy to read section -> found on many Health Topic pages ->
5th grade level
• Anatomy and surgery videos
• Nearly 50 different languages
• Explore MedlinePlus.gov:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
MedlinePlus Health Topics
MedlinePlus Demo
MedlinePlus Connect  returns targeted
MedlinePlus.gov information
• Delivers information that is tailored to a patient’s specific
diagnosis, medication or lab test
• Responds to code-based requests. These codes are already
used by Health IT systems
• Problem codes (diagnosis): ICD-9-CM and SNOMED CT®
• Medications: RXCUI (RxNorm Concept Unique ID) and NDC
• Lab tests: LOINC®
• Supports HL7 Context-Aware Knowledge Retrieval
(Infobutton) standard
• Recognized standard for the exchange of information between EHRs
and other systems
MedlinePlus Connect
Problem, medication, or lab
code-based request
EHR/Health
IT System
Consumer health
information targeted
response
Patient portal
Clinical system
MedlinePlus
Connect
Web Service AND Web Application
• Web Service returns information and links in XML
• Health IT system has flexibility in controlling the display of
information to the user
• Web application returns formatted Web page with tailored
MedlinePlus content
• This is an interim page in between the health IT system and full
pages on MedlinePlus.gov
• Explore demos of MedlinePlus Connect:
• http://apps2.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/services/servicedemo.cfm
• http://apps2.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/services/demo.html
Why MedlinePlus Connect?
• MedlinePlus Connect identified as a national initiative
• HHSinnovates Award in March 2011
• It is free!
• Satisfies CMS core objective for meaningful use
• Article of interest:
Vawdrey DK, Wilcox LG, Collins SA, Bakken S, Feiner S, Boyer A,
Restaino SW. A tablet computer application for patients to participate in
their hospital care. Proceedings of the AMIA Annual Symposium
[Internet]. 2011 October 22 [cited 2011 Dec 24];1428–35. Available
from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3243172/
Health Care Organizations & EHRs
• Health care:
• Cleveland Clinic
• Institute for Family Health
• Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
• University of Utah
• (Geisinger Health System)
• EHR and Health IT systems:
• Epic, Procentive, ComChart, Dexter-Solutions, Aetna
• Easy to implement. It’s a one-time change on the back end
of the system
• NLM will work with the EHR vendor
Discussion
• Questions?
• Thank-you!
• Renae Barger, Executive Director, rbarger@pitt.edu
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the
National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and
Human Services, under Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00003-C with the University
of Pittsburgh, Health Sciences Library System.