At SNOMED International’s recent October Business Meetings held in London, the organization’s governance bodies enacted a decision to extend the core of SNOMED CT’s structured clinical terminology to deliver an open, standalone sub-ontology to support the scope of content within the International Patient Summary (IPS.)
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The IPS is an electronic health record extract containing essential healthcare information for use in the unscheduled, cross-border care scenario, as well as for local, regional and other care scenarios. It is a minimal, non-exhaustive set of data elements defined by ISO/EN 17269 and delivered by HL7 in both CDA and FHIR using a curated set of SNOMED CT terms.
There is a groundswell of support across all health sectors to increase the portability and usability of patient information for the purpose of safe health care delivery. In 2019, SNOMED International and HL7 International announced the formalization of a license agreement in which a relevant ‘Free for Use’ Set of SNOMED CT coded concepts would be used within the HL7 IPS.
Most recently, we watched as G7 leaders collaborated to release a communique on the dire need to progress a global health interoperability agenda. IBM offers a working definition of interoperability as “the timely and secure access, integration and use of electronic health data so that it can be used to optimize health outcomes for individuals and populations.” The G7 communique, which highlighted the importance of enabling digital healthcare systems worldwide to work together seamlessly as patients move between providers, facilities and even countries, is an impactful statement that rippled throughout the global health community. A charge taken up by the Global Digital Health Partnership, it is one SNOMED International is eager to support.
Embracing a collaborative approach, “SNOMED International has been pleased to continue to work with HL7 International and partners across Europe and beyond to define SNOMED CT content for use in the International Patient Summary,” offered SNOMED International Management Board Chair, Joanne Burns.