For Information: Follow-up Briefing Note regarding the Inactivation of Grouping Concepts for Therapeutic Roles in the Medicinal Products hierarchy

Purpose

The purpose of this briefing note is to advise further on the outcome of the consultation on the proposal to inactivate grouping concepts for therapeutic roles in the Medicinal Products hierarchy (known as Medicinal Product therapeutic role groupers).

Resolution

• Evidence has been received illustrating the impact of the inactivation of the recently created Medicinal Product therapeutic role groupers, including requirements for some limited local use cases. It is understood that at a national level, and with a prescribing use case, in certain circumstances, groupers may be required. Other marginal use cases may require different solutions, but the existing therapeutic roles in the International Edition of SNOMED CT cannot be considered an international therapeutic classification of drugs (e.g. as could be
  served by mappings to classifications such as ATC etc).
• Feedback included that Medicinal Product therapeutic role groupers are incomplete, and comments received included confusion regarding which to use in terms of substance or products.
• Resolution of the issues involves inactivating the small set of the Medicinal product role groupers (20% of those contained in substances) created to date, many without any subtypes assigned. We understand this is a rollback in a decision made circa 2017 by the substance redesign working group. NRCs can opt to create medicinal product role groupers in their extensions or use other solutions and classifications to address the issues related to the use of the substance role groupers.

Impact to Content 

• 178 Medicinal Product Role Groupers will be inactivated as duplicates pointing to the substance role groupers.
• Based on SNOMED CT member feedback 766939001 |Plays role (attribute)| and its supporting hierarchy of 766941000 |Therapeutic role (role)| and its 123 subtypes will be retained to support modelling content in extensions.
• The Substance role groupers will remain in situ with no change. Additional concepts of this type will not be created, and requests for new instances will be rejected. However, a disclaimer will be added to the SNOMED CT Editorial Guide related to known issues with the use of Substance role groupers, including potential incorrect classification.

Action

No response is required to this post.

For further information contact Nicki Ingram: nin@snomed.org