Date Added: 9/1/2008
Posted by:
 birdie
 supporthitug.org

Author/Source:
 SNOMED CT

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SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms) is considered to be the most comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world.

Each year, avoidable deaths and injuries occur because of poor communication between healthcare practitioners. The delivery of a standard clinical language for use across the world's health information systems can therefore be a significant step towards improving the quality and safety of healthcare.

SNOMED CT aims to improve patient care through the development of systems to accurately record health care encounters. Ultimately, patients will benefit from the use of SNOMED CT, for building and facilitating communication and interoperability in electronic health data exchange.
 

SNOMED CT intellectual property rights were transferred to the SNOMED SDO® in the formal creation of the IHTSDO.

SNOMED CT was originally created by the College of American Pathologists by combining SNOMED RT and a computer based nomenclature and classification known as Clinical Terms Version 3, formerly known as Read Codes Version 3, which was created on behalf of the UK Department of Health and is Crown copyright.

In Canada, SNOMED CT® was identified by Canada Health Infoway's pan-Canadian Standards Group (pCSG) as the best choice of terminology for 24 priority clinical information groupings (or sub-domains) of the core interoperable EHR. In February 2006, Infoway's EHR Standards Steering Committee approved the selection of SNOMED CT® for evaluation and piloting as the terminology for these 24 priority clinical information groupings (or sub-domains).

SNOMED CT® was recommended because it captures clinical information at the level of detail needed by clinicians for the provision of care in all healthcare disciplines and most healthcare settings.

Following the acquisition of SNOMED CT® by the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO) from the SNOMED International Division of the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the standard and its related assets were made available in Canada to members of Infoway's Standards Collaborative.

Why is a common clinical terminology standard needed for the electronic communication of health information and in the interoperable Electronic Health Record (iEHR), in Canada?

SNOMED CT® provides the core clinical terminology for the interoperable Electronic Health Record (iEHR). Currently it contains more than 357,000 concepts with unique meanings and formal logic-based definitions organized into hierarchies. When implemented in software applications, SNOMED CT® represents clinically relevant information consistently, reliably and comprehensively as an integral part of producing and populating clinical information in interoperable Electronic Health Records.

How was the decision to select SNOMED CT® arrived at in Canada? What recommendations were made?

In October 2005, the Infoway Clinical Terminology Integration (CTI) project recommended SNOMED CT® as the best choice for the reference terminology for priority clinical information groupings (or sub-domains) of the core interoperable Electronic Health Record (iEHR). As the pan-Canadian iEHR must serve the Canadian population (providers and patients alike), that also necessitates the need for SNOMED CT® to be available in both official languages.

In February 2006, acting on the recommendations of the Infoway CTI project and the EHR Standards Advisory Committee (SAC), the Infoway EHR Standards Steering Committee (SSC) agreed:

- To select SNOMED CT® for evaluation and piloting in both English and French as the Canadian standard for the reference terminology of the pan-Canadian iEHR; and

- To move to the next phase of the Standards Life Cycle where further detailed analysis work will be carried out so that SNOMED CT® is evaluated and tested as rapidly as possible.

They also indicated that:
- SNOMED CT® must be made available in both official languages as soon as possible; and

- Canada should immediately become a Charter Member of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO®) and establish a National Product Centre (NPC).

Additionally, in consultation with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Health Canada (HC) and the EHR SSC, Infoway acted on behalf of Canada to finalise Canada’s Charter Membership in the IHTSDO®. Canada’s NPC will reside for the first two years at Infoway under the Standards Collaborative.

As part of its Standards collaboration and coordination mandate, Infoway contributed Canada’s “share” to the acquisition of the member countries purchase of the SNOMED® intellectual property. Therefore, in accordance with the SSC recommendations, Infoway has now secured a national license for the SNOMED CT® standard for Canada.

The IHTSDO® is responsible for the maintenance and overall quality of the core international edition of the SNOMED CT® standard. For more information about this or about the IHTSDO® please refer to http://www.ihtsdo.org

In Canada, SNOMED CT® is available through the Infoway Standards Collaborative to Members. The Collaborative has begun to set up a Canadian National Product Centre (NPC) that provides a central service for managing, distributing, supporting and monitoring the use of the standard and related assets.

Why was SNOMED CT® recommended as the preferred clinical terminology standard for Canada?

SNOMED CT® was recommended because it captures clinical information at the level of detail needed by clinicians for the provision of care in all healthcare disciplines and most healthcare settings. It is the terminology "standard of choice" for semantic interoperability of Electronic Health Records.

Additionally, the global strategy today is to unite the many silos of healthcare delivery. Several countries, including Canada, are taking this unification a step further not only by creating an standards-based interoperable Electronic Health Record, but by ensuring that the SNOMED CT® core terminology, which provides a common language that enables a consistent way of capturing, sharing, and aggregating healthcare data across specialties and sites of care, becomes a global standard. Canada, through its Charter Membership in the IHTSDO®, is now positioned to effectively contribute and influence the ongoing development and maintenance of the SNOMED CT® standard.

References

http://sl.infoway-inforoute.ca/content/dispPage.asp?cw_page=snomedct_e#2

http://www.ihtsdo.org/snomed-ct/