Computer Data Processing of Medical Diagnoses in Pathology

Modes of insertion of pathology diagnoses into a computer data storage and retrieval system are reviewed. The conversion of free-flowing diagnostic sentences into internal code is considered, and the advantages of coding are discussed from two aspects: (a) to minimize storage, and (b) to help alleviate difficulties in retrieval of synonymous terminology. Methods of manually pre-coding diagnoses into Systemized Nomenclature of Pathology (SNOP) code are discussed. Data encoding produces a fixed format record which provides significant economy in data handling. The potential use of a real-time visual display unit in data gathering and automatic coding is presented.