Background

When a country joins IHTSDO it gains a number of rights and obligations related to IHTSDO products, including SNOMED Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). All IHTSDO Member countries¹ also play a key role within the governance and advisory bodies of IHTSDO. Therefore, joining IHTSDO brings with it a need to learn how IHTSDO works, the roles of IHTSDO Members and practical ways to maximize the benefits of membership.
An important first step is to designate an organization as a National Release Center (NRC) to fulfill the operational requirements of membership, including managing the national distribution of SNOMED CT. This guide is a high-level introductory document for National Release Centers.

Objective

The objective of the "IHTSDO National Release Center Guide" (NRC Guide) is to offer a practical and useful starting point for IHTSDO Member countries. It provides guidance on NRC responsibilities and the relationships between NRCs, IHTSDO, and implementers and users within a Member country.
This document is also intended to provide guidance on how NRCs can support an effective and efficient introduction of SNOMED CT in their countries. However, it does not provide a general introduction to SNOMED CT. Readers interested in learning more about IHTSDO's terminology should refer instead to the SNOMED CT Starter Guide.
The SNOMED CT Starter Guide can be found here: http://snomed.org/starterguide

Target Audience

The target audience of the NRC Guide is those people responsible for establishing, managing and working within a National Release Center. While primarily designed for new IHTSDO Members, this guide also provides a useful reference for NRC staff in existing Member countries.
Readers of this guide should already have an understanding of what an IHTSDO Member is and what an Affiliate is. The IHTSDO Glossary can be used to clarify specific words and phrases used.
The SNOMED CT Glossary can be found here: http://snomed.org/glossary