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As SNOMED CT descriptions can be used directly as an interface terminology, subsets of SNOMED CT descriptions may be directly shown to a clinician at the user interface. These description subsets may be customized

• for a specific ‘language’ language or ‘dialect’ dialect (such as ‘Spanish’ Spanish or ‘Australian English’Australian English)
• for a given clinical specialty (such as ‘cardiology’ cardiology or ' oncology')
• for a user type (such as a ‘doctor‘doctor, ‘nurse’ nurse or ‘patient’patient)
• a care setting (such as an ‘aged aged care home’ home or a ‘hospital hospital inpatient ward’ward) or
• a specific document or field in a health record

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While a simple type reference set can be used for defining a subset of descriptions, a 5.7. Language Reference Set is often used for this purpose because it supports language and dialect preferences, through the addition of the 'acceptability' attribute. This allows language preference to be defined for any context of use, including within a particular country or region, within a clinical specialty or care setting, within an organization or department, or for a specific type of user. 

Language reference sets can be used to specify the descriptions as acceptable or preferred for display in a given context.

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Benefits of using SNOMED CT as Interface Terminology

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