What is MedlinePlus
Connect?
What is MedlinePlus Connect?
MedlinePlus Connect links health IT systems, patient portals and electronic health record (EHR) systems to relevant,
authoritative patient health information from MedlinePlus.gov. The National Library of Medicine, part of the National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides this free service. MedlinePlus Connect is
a Web application and a Web service that supports the HL7 Context-Aware Knowledge Retrieval (Infobutton)
Knowledge Request Standard.
What is MedlinePlus? How do patients or providers benefit from MedlinePlus?
MedlinePlus.gov offers free, reliable, up-to-date health information in English and Spanish, with no advertisements.
Content is from reputable providers, including the National Institutes of Health, and other government and
professional organizations. MedlinePlus helps millions of visitors a year access:
•
Information on hundreds of diseases, conditions and wellness topics
•
Interactive tutorials, videos and other
multimedia
•
An illustrated medical encyclopedia, dictionary definitions, and health news
•
Medication and supplement information
•
Links to health information in over 40 languages
•
and much more…
MedlinePlus is your trusted source for health information. MedlinePlus Connect brings this reputable health
information to patients, families, and health care providers when they need it via their patient portal or EHR.
How does MedlinePlus Connect work?
MedlinePlus Connect responds to requests based on diagnosis (problem) codes, medication codes, and laboratory test
codes. When an EHR or patient portal submits a code request, MedlinePlus Connect returns a response that includes
links to relevant MedlinePlus patient information. MedlinePlus Connect currently accepts the following code requests:
Problems/Diagnoses
•
ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Disease, 9
th
edition, Clinical Modification)
•
ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Disease, 10
th
edition, Clinical Modification)
•
SNOMED CT® (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine, Clinical Terms) — MedlinePlus Connect coverage of
SNOMED CT focuses on CORE (
C
linical
O
bservations
R
ecording and
E
ncoding) Problem List Subset codes and
their descendants
Medications
•
RXCUI (RxNorm Concept Unique Identifier)
•
NDC (National Drug Code)
•
MedlinePlus Connect also accepts text strings for medication requests
Laboratory Tests
•
LOINC® (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes)
MedlinePlus Connect can reply with English or Spanish information.
Who can implement MedlinePlus Connect?
MedlinePlus Connect can be implemented as a quick, one-time change by:
•
Health IT, EHR or patient portal vendors who offer MedlinePlus Connect as a feature to their clients.
•
Health IT, EHR or patient portal purchasers and coordinators for hospitals, clinics, provider offices, or other
facilities. They may be able to implement MedlinePlus Connect directly depending on their administrative
rights in their EHR system. Otherwise, they can speak with their Health IT or EHR vendors.
NLM does not charge for use of MedlinePlus Connect.
What does MedlinePlus Connect look like to the patient or provider?
The Web service and Web application provide responses in different formats. The Web application returns a link to a
formatted MedlinePlus Connect response page. This page will include links to information relevant to the
problem/diagnosis, medication, or lab test. For a diagnosis/problem code, the response page will also highlight the
MedlinePlus topics page(s) we have matched to that code, plus sample links to patient information.
The MedlinePlus Connect Web Service returns XML, JSON, or JSONP. If the organization implementing MedlinePlus
Connect decides to use the Web service
instead of the Web application, they may select which MedlinePlus links and
information to provide from within the system instead of automatically linking to the standard MedlinePlus Connect
response page.
For details, see:
http://medlineplus.gov/connect
Last updated: May 2014
Links to relevant MedlinePlus page with
extensive articles, videos, and images for
the patient
Links to sample
patient content