Date

20211231

Release Status

Document Version

1.0










Table Of Contents




1  Introduction

1.1  Background

This document is to provide visibility to the Members of relevant feedback received during the Pre-Production Release period, and any actions taken as a result of this feedback.  

Please contact SNOMED International at support@snomed.org with any questions related to the contents of this document.

1.2  Scope

This document relates exclusively to the January 2022 SNOMED CT International Edition, and not any prior Releases.

1.3  Audience

This document is intended for use by SNOMED International Member National Release Centres only, and should not be distributed to Affiliate licensees without permission from SNOMED International.


2  Notes for the January 2022 Member Release

2.1  Summary

The feedback about the SNOMED CT International content that was received during the Pre-Production period, was used to update the International edition release package ready for the Member release.

There was some feedback provided that, for a variety of reasons, didn’t result in changes to this Release version, but instead will be resolved as part of the next editing cycle, ready for publication in future releases.  Details of these “Known Issues” can be found in section 3.1 of the Release Notes that are published alongside the International Edition Member release package.

The feedback that resulted in changes being made to the Member Release package for the January 2022 International Edition are detailed below in section 2.3.

SNOMED International thanks those Members and all others who contributed feedback.

2.2  Advanced Notice of upcoming changes to the International Edition Release Schedule

As you may already know SNOMED International are transitioning to a more frequent (monthly) delivery schedule for the International Edition of SNOMED CT.  The move towards more frequent releases of SNOMED CT will realise several benefits, including:

  • The potential to be able to get content changes into the terminology in a shorter time frame.
  • The fostering of better interoperability, as a result of entities being able to consume release content that is more aligned with other organizations.
  • The prevention of circular dependencies that occur in longer projects, due to the move towards smaller, more manageable authoring projects.
  • More automated validation services, as a result of the inherent removal of the Alpha/Beta stages in the Release cycle.

Whilst most users will continue unaffected (as they can simply continue to download the releases every 6 months as always), this transition will necessarily involve a few changes to process/packages:

  • The Member Release period will no longer be feasible within the new rapid monthly release schedules, and so this December 2021 release will be the final Member Release of the SNOMED CT International Edition.  If you would like to continue assisting in the validation efforts of SNOMED CT there are other ways in which you can help - please contact support@snomed.org to find out more.
  • Delta files have been removed from the release package - a Delta Generation service will be provided for those who need it.   The Delta Generation Tool allows users to create their own Delta between two fixed release dates - you can find it here, so please feel free to trial this in addition to the Member Release package and send us any feedback:
  • There is no longer any need to separate the Map files from the International Edition - the ICD-0/ICD-10 Maps will continue to be published in each Monthly International Edition release package (in line with that month's content) for the foreseeable future, unless we experience issues with the new process in Production, and they need to be removed at a later date.

NOTE:  SNOMED International worked closely with Members over the past couple of years to better understand the impact of the proposed model, and have incorporated feedback into the new processes.  This was designed to prevent any adverse impact to users, however if you have any further questions or concerns please contact us on support@snomed.org.



2.3  Items Reported in the Pre-Production feedback stage, that were resolved for the Member Release

The following items were resolved in the January 2022 International Member Release package, before the publication of the Member Release(s):