The circumstances that form the setting in which a concept can be appropriately interpreted.
Clear recording and appropriate interpretation of context is essential for safe use and accurate analysis of electronic health records.
The context in which a concept is used can be represented in various ways. Some of the possible representation are shown in the examples section below.
Appropriate interpretation of different representations of context can be facilitated by terminology binding techniques that resolve multiple models of use into a common model of meaning.
A disease such as "asthma" might be referred to in various contexts.
A current presenting problem needing treatment
A past history recorded during assessment for treatment of another condition
A family history recorded routinely during a consultation
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Family History Record Section )
Family history of asthma can be recorded using SNOMED CT in several ways three of which are illustrated here.
Use of a single concept from the situation with explicit context domain:
* Application of a context wrapper to the _concept_ [ 195967001 | Asthma (disorder)|](http://snomed.info/id/195967001 "195967001 | Asthma \(disorder\) |") :* Use of features of an electronic health record model, such as separate record sections for information with different _contexts_.* Based on the definitions of these concepts, a description logic classifier will infer that first two representations above have precisely the same meaning. The third representation can be similarly resolved if the "Family History Record Section" has a _model or meaning binding_ to the [ 57177007 | Family history with explicit context (situation)|](http://snomed.info/id/57177007 "57177007 | Family history with explicit context \(situation\) |") wrapper.