NCPT Use in the Electronic Health Record – FAQs
- How is the NCP Terminology used in the Electronic Health Record?
- I want to incorporate the NCP Terminology into my hospital/health care system’s electronic health records. What do I need to do?
- I’m developing a software product and would like to include the NCP Terminology. Do I need permission from the Academy?
- My product will only include a few NCP terms. Do I need a Developer subscription?
- What does the Academy provide to purchasers of an Organization or Developer eNCPT subscription?
- If I need further information, who can I contact?
The Nutrition Care Process and Terminology Committee and Interoperability and Standards Committee are working together to provide resources to incorporate the NCP Terminology in electronic health records. Per Federal US Health and Human Services mandate, clinical terminologies in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) must be in SNOMED and LOINC. The corporate and developer subscriptions for the eNCPT provide a downloadable spreadsheet that includes the currently published NCPT, SNOMED, and LOINC mappings.
- I want to incorporate the NCP Terminology into my hospital/health care system’s electronic health records. What do I need to do?
Purchase an Organization Subscription from the eNCPT website. This subscription will give you permission and access to the NCP Terminology Excel Spreadsheet for use in your hospital’s EHR.
- I’m developing a software product and would like to include the NCP Terminology. Do I need permission from the Academy?
Yes. The Academy holds the copyright for the NCP Terminology. To use NCPT in any software product that will be sold or distributed to others, you must purchase a Developer Subscription from the eNCPT website. This subscription will provide access to the NCP Terminology Excel Spreadsheet and permission to include the terminology in a product for sale or distribution.
Contact us if you are unsure whether you need a Developer Subscription.
Evaluate whether your proposed use of the terms falls within “fair use.” The U.S. Copyright Law, under Chapter One, Section 107, exempts limited use of copyrighted works, referred to as ”fair use” and such uses are allowable without a license. For more information on fair use and the copyright law, visit www.copyright.gov. Consulting with your legal advisor is also a good idea.
A downloadable Excel file is a part of the Organization or Developer eNCPT subscription and includes the following:
- A guide to the file explaining the attributes, their definitions, and notes
- NCPT term with context
- For use in electronic records because it contains the complete contextual information to distinguish it from other terms
- The Academy Unique identifier (ANDUID, a five digit number)
- Used by IT professionals for data monitoring and tracking in EHRs.
- RDNs can use this number to request data needed for reports and quality improvement.
- The eNCPT published terminology in hierarchical format
- Explanation of the changes to the terms since the last edition
- External mappings of the NCPT to SNOMED-CT and LOINC, standardized medical terminologies in use in the U.S. in EHRs