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Each SCTID

Specref
RefType (data type) t SCTID

identifies a

Gloss
Space true t SNOMED CT component.

The identifier itself does not contain information related to the meaning of a

Gloss
Space true t concept

or

Gloss
Space true t description.

This means it is not possible to infer anything about the meaning of a

Gloss
Space true t concept

from the numeric value of the identifier or from the sequence of digits in that form of the identifer. The meaning of a

Gloss
Space true t concept

can be determined from

Gloss
Space true t relationships

to other

Gloss
Space true t concepts

and from associated

Gloss
Space true t descriptions

that include human readable terms.

The

Specref
RefType (data type) t SCTID

 does however have a structure which includes valuable information about the nature and source of the identified component and the validity of the identifier. This structure supports the following features:

• Gloss
  Space true t Check-digit

  validation of the identifier.

  • The

    Gloss
    Space true t check-digit

    is the final digit in the decimal rendering of the identifier. This can be checked to minimize errors from transcription or incomplete copy-paste actions.

• Partitioning between identifiers for different types of

  Gloss
  t SNOMED CT component.

  • A two-digit

    Gloss
    Space true t partition-identifier

    distinguishes the identifiers of different component types and prevents the same identifier from being allocated to both a

    Gloss
    Space true t concept

    and a

    Gloss
    Space true t description.

    As a result, when an

    Specref
    RefType (data type) t SCTID

     is read from a record or other resource, it is possible to determine whether it represents a

    Gloss
    Space true t concept,

    a

    Gloss
    Space true t relationship

    or a

    Gloss
    Space true t description,

    before searching for the identified component.

• Namespaces to separate component identifiers originated by different organizations. 

  • Organizations are only permitted to issue identifiers which fall within a specified namespace of potential identifier values. This prevents collisions between identifiers issues by different organizations which would otherwise result in ambiguity and errors when sharing data.

  • There are two formats used for representing namespaces. 

    • Short format in which

      Gloss
      Space true t partition-identifiers

      are reserved for an organization which is permitted to issue any valid identifiers within the allocated partitions. The short format approach does not require a specific

      Gloss
      Space true t namespace-identifier

      and is only applicable to components originated and maintained by the

      Gloss
      Space true t SNOMED International

      as part of the

      Gloss
      Space true t International Release

      of

      Gloss
      t SNOMED CT.

    • Long format in which the

      Gloss
      Space true t partition-identifier

      value indicates that a separate

      Gloss
      Space true t namespace-identifier

      is required to distinguish between components originated as part of an

      Gloss
      Space true t extension

      created by an appropriately authorized organization .

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Info

The Gloss Space true t SNOMED International allocates Gloss Space true t namespace-identifiers to organizations such as Gloss Space true t Members and Gloss Space true t Affiliates to enable them to create content and or derivatives in an Gloss Space true t extension. The Gloss Space true t namespace-identifiers enables unique  Specref RefType (data type) t SCTID  to be issued by many organizations and allow each  Specref RefType (data type) t SCTID  to be traced to an authorized originating organization.

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