WHO and SNOMED International are presently exploring a joint sustainable framework to link ICD-11 and SNOMED CT.
The World Health Organization (WHO) collaborates with various standards-developing organizations to enhance the interoperability of international health information systems. The linkage of the International Classification of Diseases 11th revision (ICD-11) with other terminologies has been a part of WHO's strategic plan since 2001.
SNOMED International is constantly looking for new ways to support Members and our broader community by developing tools and services that will make it easier to implement and use SNOMED CT. We recently launched our Simplex tool, which empowers users to efficiently create, manage and publish custom SNOMED CT extensions and to tailor SNOMED CT to meet their specific needs without incurring high costs. Read our latest Q&A-style blog in which SNOMED International Implementation Team members Anne Højen, Alejandro Lopez Osornio and Kai Kewley explain the tool’s key features, its target audience and how it differs from our Managed Service offering.
Read the blog here.
SNOMED International and the Chile-based National Center for Health Information Systems (Centro Nacional en Sistemas de Información en Salud - CENS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen and support digital health transformation and enable regional healthcare interoperability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). CENS is the executing agency of RACSEL (Latin American and Caribbean Digital Health Network).
The MOU positions SNOMED International as a strategic partner to RACSEL, a collaborative network across LAC.
Collaboration goals
The goal of the MOU is to support the implementation of regional projects to strengthen the capacity of LAC countries in health management by promoting digital transformation in health, focusing on developing a regional agreement for cross-border digital health services, and strengthening the health information exchange model implemented in the region through the adoption of standards, architectures, governance and protocols, and data exchange and interoperability protocols.
SNOMED International’s role in the collaboration will include supporting health data interoperability and the implementation of SNOMED CT and other health data standards and providing education through webinars and other educational offerings. The organization will also participate in various activities to help promote health data interoperability initiatives across the LAC region.
The organizations will work together to develop guidelines and protocols for the exchange of public health data and care information, including semantic and syntactic components, and to support participating countries in their adoption. They will also collaborate on developing architectural components and security frameworks for the exchange of healthcare, public health and telehealth data, and on identifying other areas where effective and practical cooperation may be possible.
Read the release here.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce the release of the SNOMED CT Clinical Implementation Guide for Cancer Synoptic Reporting, a comprehensive resource to facilitate standardized and structured reporting in cancer care.
Designed to enable healthcare organizations to improve the quality of information captured, facilitate data exchange, support research initiatives, and enhance collaboration among healthcare providers, the guide provides clinicians with an overview of the content of SNOMED CT that supports cancer synoptic reporting and highlights the role of SNOMED CT in standardizing and enhancing cancer reporting practices.
The scope of the guide is specific to the creation of SNOMED CT concepts necessary to unambiguously represent the data elements required for cancer reporting for all adult and pediatric solid tumors as published by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). The content is specific to structure pathology reporting of malignant neoplasms as specified by the CAP and ICCR.
Read the release here: https://www.snomed.org/news/snomed-ct-clinical-implementation-guide-for-cancer-synoptic-reporting-supports-accurate-documentation-and-improved-information-sharing
View the guide here: SNOMED CT Clinical Implementation Guide for Cancer Synoptic Reporting
Over the past year, SNOMED International has established a clinical regional network focused on Spanish-speakers in Latin America.
The network continues to build on the SNOMED International offerings currently available in Spanish, including the SNOMED CT International Edition in Spanish, which is released twice a year; the SNOMED CT Foundation course in Spanish (Curso de Fundamentos de SNOMED CT); and a Confluence space for Spanish-speaking SNOMED CT users.
The purpose of the network is to equip clinicians and other SNOMED CT users in Latin American non-SNOMED International Member countries with basic knowledge of the clinical terminology and the benefits it offers to patients, providers, and other stakeholders. It also functions as a forum for sharing experiences and for community support to resolve common questions and challenges. The discussions and real-world use cases shared in this network are valuable input for the further development of the terminology.
Read our latest blog post to learn more.
On October 23, 2024, as part of SNOMED CT Expo 2024 pre-conference sessions, SNOMED International is hosting a half-day workshop on traditional medicine. In this blog, Liara Tutina, SNOMED International’s Customer Relations Executive Asia and Pacific & Global Education Lead, and Yongsheng Gao, Senior Terminologist, discuss the growing need for traditional medicine content in SNOMED CT and the benefits of its inclusion.
Read it to learn how we define traditional medicine, the goal of our traditional medicine project, the process of including more of this type of content in SNOMED CT, the challenges posed by integrating various global traditions into the terminology and the learning goals for the October 23, 2024 session.
Read the blog.
Visit our Traditional Medicine Confluence page for more information on the project.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce that Hungary has become a SNOMED International Member. Hungary will join a community of 49 Members globally. It is the fifth following the announcement of EU funding for Member states wishing to adopt SNOMED CT.
Since launching an electronic patient record in 2017, Hungary’s efforts to further digitize the healthcare system were spurred in part – as in many countries – by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2023, Dr Péter Takács, Hungary’s State Secretary for Health, made strengthening the country’s health resources, infrastructure and delivery, harnessing technology and innovation to better serve its population, and nurturing its health and care workforce its main priorities.
Read the release to learn more about how Hungary's digital health efforts and SNOMED CT activities position the country to achieve its goals of a data-driven health system.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce that the October 2024 Business Meetings schedule and SNOMED CT Expo 2024 program have been confirmed, and early-bird registration* is now open for the only global conference focused on SNOMED CT.
The hybrid October Business Meetings will be held from October 19-23, 2024, followed by SNOMED CT Expo 2024 from October 24-25, both located at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Seoul, Korea. The Expo will also be delivered online, with Zoom Events.
Please visit the links below for more information:
October 2024 Business Meetings
Why attend?
- Learn about global SNOMED CT implementations, interesting research and exciting advances in interoperability and digital health around the world.
- Support discussion, knowledge exchange, and the ongoing development of SNOMED CT.
- Connect with colleagues, share your expertise and grow your professional network.
*Early-bird registration for the Expo ends on August 12th.
Attending the Business Meetings online?
Zoom links for all ‘open’ meetings will be shared on the SNOMED International "What's on this Week" calendar.
Please note that pre-registration for these is NOT required.
Coming to Seoul?
SNOMED International has negotiated a special delegate rate at the venue, available to book until 25th September, 2024 (subject to availability). Spaces are limited so we advise that you act now and take advantage of their flexible cancellation policy.
Please click here to book your room.
We hope to see you there - either in Seoul, or online!
Questions?
Contact events@snomed.org
We thank our sponsors and exhibitors:
Building on the success of the 2023 SNOMED International and Bahmni Coalition collaboration, SNOMED International has formally joined the Bahmni Coalition. Bahmni, a digital public good, is an easy-to-use, open-source hospital system for healthcare providers in low-resource settings.
The Bahmni Coalition is a group of organizations involved in the product across various capacities, including partners that use Bahmni’s open-source electronic medical record (EMR) and hospital information system and partners who contribute to Bahmni’s ongoing development and implementation, and offer related services.
SNOMED International worked with the Coalition throughout 2023 to integrate SNOMED CT, the world’s most comprehensive clinical terminology, into the Bahmni EMR, enabling clinicians to record diagnoses and other clinical data. The SNOMED CT-enabled EMR can also be used for reporting and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) use-cases, for searching and saving diagnoses, receiving alerts when a drug-diagnosis interaction is contraindicated, generating diagnosis reports, and creating forms. With the integration of SNOMED CT, patient records can be standardized and therefore more easily exchanged with other electronic health records.
As part of the Coalition, SNOMED International will work with other members to advance the organization’s mission and goals, build support for the Bahmni EMR, participate in and drive marketing activities, and participate in the Coalition’s various committees.
Over 2024, the Coalition will continue to seek feedback on its 2024 roadmap for the Bahmni EMR and define and develop new features.
Read the news release to learn more.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce the release of the 2024 Products & Services Catalog.
Available as a PDF download, the catalog, which is updated and published annually, provides a comprehensive snapshot of the organization’s products and services, organized into sections on content, support offerings, education and tooling.
New in 2024
The 2024 catalog highlights new and/or updated content developed throughout the year, including anatomy, cancer synoptic reporting, rare diseases, epilepsy, social care and a preview of the SNOMED CT-LOINC extension. These developments are the results of linkages with other terminologies and classifications and of Member and stakeholder-driven requirements.
It also captures all our releases throughout the year as well as our growing portfolio of tools and resources and our educational offerings. It also helps the reader understand the benefits of SNOMED CT by providing a section with links to multimedia materials detailing the value of SNOMED CT and how it is being used to help deliver better patient care globally, and how it has provided a return on investment and other benefits to so many Member countries and others such as affiliate licensees, researchers and humanitarian or charitable organizations.
Read the news release here.
SNOMED International and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) have signed a collaboration agreement that will enable the integration of the Tumour, Node, Metastasis (TNM) Classification of Malignant Tumours into SNOMED CT. The TNM Classification, which the UICC manages and publishes, is a globally recognised standard for classifying the extent and spread of cancer. SNOMED CT is a comprehensive, multilingual healthcare terminology created for use by healthcare professionals to capture the care of individuals in an electronic health record (EHR) and facilitate sharing, decision support and analytics, to support safe and effective health information exchange.
The TNM Classification is widely used in SNOMED International Member countries and is recommended by the organization’s relevant Clinical Reference Groups.
As part of the collaboration and integration of the two terminologies, SNOMED CT will provide the content and a model to enable TNM staging to be recorded in EHRs and other related records. The two organizations will ensure that the UICC staging values are represented in a way that enables users to unambiguously identify the UICC classification content.
The initial focus of this endeavour will be the 8th edition of the UICC TNM Classification; the agreement, however, includes the incorporation of relevant content from the 9th edition when it is available. In addition, the group will ensure that ongoing changes to SNOMED CT and UICC staging values are reflected in the integration.
Read the news release for more information.
The SNOMED International 2023 Annual Report is now available.
In addition to reporting on the organization’s financial performance, the document provides a comprehensive overview of the organization’s pursuits and achievements over the past year.
It includes updates on the organization’s regular activities, such as ongoing maintenance and development of SNOMED CT and its ecosystem of related products and services, as well as on new partnerships and initiatives that expand the reach, utility and value of the clinical terminology.
Titled “Advancing the Global Language of Healthcare,” the report details the 2023 year-end status of the organization’s five-year strategy and describes how delivering on our 2023 targets has laid the groundwork for the next five-year strategy. Exploration and adoption of artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, broadening our innovative collaborations, and growing SNOMED CT use in digitally maturing regions are a few areas of focus as we define the organization’s priorities to 2030.
Read the news release here.
SNOMED International has announced the release and inclusion of the Nutrition Care Process Terminology (NCPT) Nutrition Reference Set in the April 2024 International Edition of SNOMED CT. This release, which is the result of a 2021 collaboration between SNOMED International and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy), enables dietitians to systematically report their nutrition practice outcomes — resulting in high-quality nutrition care using a standardized quality improvement process to support care and effective decision-making, as well as to inform nutrition education and health policy.
On the SNOMED International side, the NCPT Project Group, led by the Academy with input from global experts, spearheaded the work of the collaboration.
Registered dietitian nutritionist and 2023-2024 Academy President Lauri Wright called the integration of the nutrition care process terminology in SNOMED CT a major milestone for the nutrition and dietetics profession, noting that it recognizes the high quality of care that dietitians provide in identifying and treating patients with malnutrition.
The reference set, which is based on NCPT 2020, will also be included in the free-for-use Global Patient Set, which SNOMED International releases annually.
The next release of the SNOMED NCPT reference is scheduled for 2025 and will contain the complete NCPT.
Click here to read the full release.
For more information on the collaboration between the two organizations, view the 2021 news release.
Click here for more information on the NCPT reference set.
Once annually in October, SNOMED International and an individual Member country work together to hold an internationally-attended SNOMED CT event. The event is comprised of a four-day Business Meeting and a two-day SNOMED CT Expo, supplemented with regional and culturally focused social activities.
SNOMED International now invites 'Expressions of Interest' from Member host countries for the SNOMED International October Business Meetings and SNOMED CT Expo 2026.
To maintain equality among the 3 global regions, proposals for 2026 are sought from:
- 2026: AMERICAS Region Members
TIMELINE:
- Submit Verbal/Email Expressions of Interest for Review by July 08, 2024
- Submit Formal Proposals by October 02, 2024
- Review of Formal Proposals by SNOMED International & Management Board: January 2024
- Successful October 2026 Member host country decided upon and announced at the April 2025 Business Meetings.
Learn more about Member country hosting, how to apply and the selection process involved on the October Business Meetings & SNOMED CT Expo - Prospective Host Resource Page.
Questions? Please contact your applicable CSRM representative, or the Communications team:
Customer Relations Executives:
- Suzy Roy, Americas
- Ian Green, Europe
- Nick Egarhos, Middle East & Africa
- Liara Tutina, AsiaPac
Communications Executive:
When SNOMED International prepares to make changes to various aspects of SNOMED CT, most of which are driven by Member and user request, we often ask our community for their feedback on the potential impact to them.
We are now launching a community consultation to solicit feedback on a proposal to increase the size limits of SNOMED CT concept descriptions to 4096 from the current limit of 255 characters. While this change does not represent a modification of the existing specification, it could be disruptive to implementers who have coded fixed length limits into their systems.
Read the latest Q&A blog post by SNOMED International Technical Specialist Peter Groves Williams, who explains the proposed change, its potential benefits, the feedback process and timelines, and the issues that may need to be considered in such an update.
The feedback period closes on Dec 31, 2024.
You can find the full proposal here.
