Although the main focus of the renewed collaboration agreement is the release of the LOINC Ontology, it also continues the work initiated in 2022, including the adoption of working practices that facilitate the use and interoperability of the terminology standards both organizations produce. It will also focus on ensuring that stakeholders/users globally have clear direction on the use of the standards, whether together or individually, and that an effective interoperability solution is available to users when both standards are implemented in the same system.
The upcoming release is the result of the renewed collaboration between the two organizations that began in 2022 and continued in 2023 with the technical preview of the ontology, building on the relationship formed more than a decade ago.
The ontology, colloquially referred to as the LOINC Extension, is slated for release at the end of March 2025 and will initially cover quantitative laboratory tests. After the initial production release, Regenstrief plans to issue the release twice a year (March and September) following the twice annual LOINC release. To keep up to date on important project news including informational release webinars, subscribe to receive updates.
The March 2025 release will include more than 35,000 concepts, including quantitative lab tests and the top 200 most used lab tests ordered. Domains of information (lab, clinical, documents, radiology, survey instruments) will be added incrementally. We will link existing SNOMED CT concepts to existing LOINC content where applicable and new LOINC codes will be created as needed. LOINC Parts will be mapped to SNOMED concepts, and new SNOMED CT concepts will be created as needed.
Read the news release here
You can also attend a free webinar on the extension hosted by Regenstrief on Tuesday, March 25, from 09:30-11:00 EDT / 13:30-15:00 UTC
SNOMED International has signed a five-year collaboration agreement with openEHR, a non-profit initiative that develops open standards for electronic health records to improve data interoperability, management, and reuse, to improve data interoperability, management, and reuse. The agreement responds to a need the openEHR community has identified to include SNOMED CT in openEHR archetypes and to ensure users of those archetypes employ an international terminology standard for interoperability and SNOMED CT. It will also facilitate the ability to represent clinical content consistently and enable openEHR to develop and include SNOMED CT concepts and codes associated with openEHR archetypes. Read the release here: https://www.snomed.org/news/snomed-international-and-openehr-collaborate-to-advance-health-data-interoperability
SNOMED International hopes to see you at the forthcoming April 2025 Business Meetings, being held in Oslo from April 6-10, 2025, followed by some online-only sessions.
View the full schedule here, noting that the Meetings will include a special SNOMED CT in Norway day on April 10, 2025, hosted by the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
Registration
Please reserve your place onsite now if you have yet to do so.
Attending the Business Meetings online? Registration is not necessary — Zoom links to join open sessions will be shared via the organization's What's on This Week calendar.
Details on how to attend SNOMED CT in Norway online are below.
Accommodation Deadline
The April Business Meetings and SNOMED CT in Norway day will be held at Oslo's Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel - a city landmark with panoramic views, centrally located and close to major transport links.
Click here to book your stay at the venue, at a negotiated rate - please be reminded that the deadline to book bedrooms is March 21, 2025.
SNOMED CT in Norway
Attend this free event at the Business Meetings to learn about SNOMED CT use cases in Norway. Delivered in English and open to all, the event will showcase the country's achievements in advancing digital health. The program also features international experiences and an innovation spotlight.
Reserve your place onsite as part of the main registration. Online attendance is also possible via Zoom Events, but without live Q&A so we encourage you to attend in Oslo and be part of the conversation!
WHEN: April 10, 2025, from 09:00-15:00 Central European Summer Time
WHERE: Radisson Blu Plaza, Oslo
Questions?
Contact the SNOMED Events Team: events@snomed.org.