UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

The UMLS (Unified Medical Language System) is a comprehensive platform developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine that helps connect different medical terms and concepts. It integrates many health-related vocabularies, symbols, and codes into a unified system, enabling healthcare providers, researchers, and software to understand and share medical information accurately. By standardizing terminology, UMLS improves data exchange, supports clinical decision-making, and advances medical research. Essentially, it acts as a universal translator for medical language, ensuring everyone speaks the same "medical language," regardless of the specific terms or systems used.