What is SNOMED?

SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine — Clinical Terms, or simply SNOMED) is a standardized, computer-processable medical terminology vocabulary. Healthcare providers use SNOMED to facilitate effective clinical recording and exchange of information. SNOMED allows for patient data such as chronic conditions, past medical history, surgical history, and family history to be codified and exchanged between healthcare systems and maintain clinical integrity.

SNOMED CT was developed by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the National Health Service (NHS) in England. It is the evolution of two earlier projects: CAP’s SNOMED Reference Technology (SNOMED RT) and the NHS Clinical Terms Version 3 (CTV3). In the United States, SNOMED is updated twice annually (in March and September) by the National Library of Medicine.

SNOMED provides the base medical terminology used in electronic health records (EHR).

How is a SNOMED Code Formatted?

SNOMED CT Codes are minimally six digits numerical codes. For instance, 254837009 is the SNOMED for Malignant tumor of breast.

What Are the Components of SNOMED CT?

SNOMED CT is made up of four core components:

• Concept Codes: Numerical codes that identify clinical terms.

• Descriptions: Textual descriptions of Concept Codes.

• Relationships: Defines the Concept Codes that have related meanings.

• Reference Sets: Groups the Concepts or Descriptions into sets.

All SNOMED Concepts are arranged in a hierarchical child-parent fashion. For example, “lung disease” would be at the top of the hierarchy (a parent), while “pneumonia” is underneath it in the hierarchy (a child). “Pneumonia” could also have its own children in the hierarchy, such as “viral pneumonia.”

Concepts can have multiple parents. Using the example above, “infectious pneumonia” could be a child of “pneumonia” and “infections diseases” at the same time.

The Importance of SNOMED in Healthcare IT

SNOMED is an established standard for exchanging healthcare information and is supported by most healthcare IT systems today.

SNOMED has been recognized by public health organizations and government health agencies as essential to the widespread adoption of EHR and other systems. Since SNOMED enables the organized sharing of health information worldwide, it has been recognized for breaking down language barriers in patient treatment.

How TempDev Can Help With SNOMED

TempDev’s team of NextGen consultants, developers, and trainers can help you implement, switch, or even upgrade your current EHR system. From dashboards, templates, and reports to revenue cycle consulting, automation, and workflow redesign, TempDev offers the tools you need to make the most of your NextGen EHR system.

Our team is here to help you design, organize, and implement the whole system, with top tips and guidance based on industry best practices.

Contact us here or call us at 888.TEMP.DEV to get the help you need working with electronic health record systems and SNOMED.