SNOMED International Governance Documentation

Background

The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO) is an Association established in 2007 for the purpose of:

  • [enhancing] the health of humankind by facilitating better health information management;
  • [contributing] to the improved delivery of care by clinical and social care professions;
  • [facilitating] the accurate sharing of clinical and related health information, and the semantic interoperability of health records;
  • [encouraging] global collaboration and cooperation with respect to the ongoing improvement of the Terminology Products; and
  • [providing] the foregoing on a globally coordinated basis, thereby enabling the Members and the related organizations within their Territories to pool resources and share benefits relating to the development and maintenance of, and their utilization and reliance upon, the Terminology Products.

(Articles of Association (AoA) version 16, article 2.2.1).
A Member of IHTSDO usually represents a single Territory (country, nation, state) and is (1) either an agency of the national government or a corporation or other duly constituted body, and (2) endorsed by the national government (see AoA 4.2.1 for further detail). To become a Member, an applicant must apply for membership, be accepted by the Management Board, and pay the Joining Fee and Annual Fee (AoA 4.2.2).
Each Member has rights (as well as obligations) (AoA 5.2-5.3), including the right to be represented at, to participate fully in, and to vote at General Assemblies. A General Assembly is a forum in which or through which Members may, individually or jointly, through their Nominated Representatives, choose to exercise the various powers granted within and by these Articles. General Assemblies will serve as an opportunity for the Members to discuss and debate fully any aspect of the business and affairs of the Association.
A Member attends a General Assembly by providing advanced written notice to the Management Board of its selected Nominated Representative and then by that Nominated Representative's attendance at the General Assembly.
Through the Articles of Association, Members have assigned overall responsibility for the management and direction of the organization to the IHTSDO Management Board (article 9.1.1). The Management Board developed a governance manual for itself in 2014-15. In order to clarify the position of the Nominated Representatives in relation to the Management Board, the Nominated Representatives felt it would be useful to develop a governance manual for the Nominated Representatives as well. The two manuals, in combination with the AoA, clarify the governance structure of IHTSDO.

Intended Audience

New Nominated Representatives come into the organization when new Members join IHTSDO and when Nominated Representatives are replaced. This manual is intended to assist those new Nominated Representatives to understand their role and responsibilities.
More broadly, this governance manual is intended for (1) existing and new Nominated Representatives; (2) the Management Board; and (3) the IHTSDO community, to clarify the role and responsibilities of the Nominated Representatives in the organization and how this relates to the Management Team, the Management Board (MB) and the Member Forum (MF).

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