A terminology binding that represents the clinical meaning of a data item or collection of data items.

A meaning binding associates a clinical meaning with either a data entry context or a defined collection of data items in an electronic health record information model. The clinical meaning of an instance of a data item with a meaning binding is determined by applying the meaning binding to the value or set of values in that instance.
SNOMED CT meaning bindings should be represented by expression templates containing one or more template slots that can be replaced by concepts entered or stored in a particular context.

An application that manages surgical procedure requests could identify requested procedures using concepts that are subtypes of 387713003 | Surgical procedure| . In this case, the data item in which that concept is recorded should have a meaning binding that explicitly indicates that this is a request for that procedure. The expression template below represents this meaning binding. It indicates that the procedure selected should replace the "@procedure" template slot, resulting in an expression that means procedure has been requested, rather than suggesting incorrectly, that it has been done.

/* Expression Template */

400999005 |Procedure requested (situation)| :
{ 363589002 |Associated procedure (attribute)| = [[ +id < 387713003 |Surgical procedure| @procedure ]] }

/* Resulting Expression if "38102005 Cholecystectomy (procedure)" is entered */

400999005 |Procedure requested (situation)| :
{ 363589002 |Associated procedure (attribute)| = 38102005 |Cholecystectomy (procedure)| }

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