The tasks involved with implementing a reference set will depend on the situation and the technical setting where the reference set is going to function. To support successful implementation, and to ensure that the reference set is used as intended it is important with precise and clear instructions for the people responsible for implementing the reference set, i.e. the people preparing the reference set for routine use within a particular setting. 

Implementation guidance should, as a minimum, include instructions on:

• The overall purpose and intended use of the reference set
• The reference set design, i.e. attributes and data types
• Dependencies to terminology artifacts, such as
  • other reference sets
  • content in the international edition of SNOMED CT
  • content in SNOMED CT extensions
• Dependencies to software artifacts, such as
  • information model structures, i.e.
    • data entry template structures
    • storage model structures
    • message structures
• Maintenance
  • release cycles
  • change management
  • request for change

Additionally, it is valuable to include instructions on how to test the implementation, i.e. exemplar test cases with information on expected outcome given a specific action.