Common medical terminology comes of age, Part Two: Current code and terminology sets--strengths and weaknesses.

A number of clinical coding and vocabulary schemes are in use in healthcare enterprises today. Most of them are weak in light of the qualities that characterize adequate controlled medical terminologies, as outlined in Part One of this review. Here we look at the major code and terminology sets with a critical eye, as well as suggest practical steps to enable health industry information system purchasers and users to move forward with their effort to use common terminology to improve the quality, service, and knowledge in their enterprise.