SNOMED International and INSERM, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, have renewed a collaboration agreement initially established in 2015. The focus of the agreement continues to be on ensuring that rare diseases can be identified and recorded in a standard way globally and this is supported by the inclusion of rare disorders nomenclature content from Orphanet in SNOMED CT.
Orphanet, the INSERM unit dedicated to knowledge on rare diseases, maintains the Orphanet nomenclature of rare diseases (ORPHAcodes) and provides a multilingual database of information related to rare diseases and orphan drugs. Orphanet is a network of 40 countries, committed to improving the recognition, information and knowledge to improve rare diseases patients’ lives.
Orphanet operates under the joint authority of the French Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research. INSERM is a public scientific and technological institute dedicated to biomedical research and human health, including rare diseases, and is involved in the entire range of activities from the laboratory to the patient's bedside and to public health.
Effective October 2024, the agreement builds on prior collaboration agreements (2015 and 2020) intended to raise the visibility of rare diseases in terminologies and promote interoperability between organizations and countries using different coding systems. The collaboration has already delivered Orphanet rare disease content into the SNOMED CT International release and a linkage between SNOMED CT and Orphanet.
The new collaboration agreement continues the work to maintain and update the alignment between SNOMED CT and Orphanet. In addition, both organisations are committed to supporting those requiring and using rare disease content to facilitate better patient care, precision medicine and research. Implementation is key to enable a global picture of rare diseases to provide understanding and allow improved patient management.
Read the news release here.
SNOMED International is excited to announce Belize as our most recent SNOMED International Member in the Central American and Caribbean region.
Other countries in the region that have also recently become SNOMED International Members are El Salvador and Jamaica.
Belize’s adoption of SNOMED CT is part of its efforts to digitize and modernize its healthcare delivery services. In 2022, the country announced the digital transformation of its health sector via a European Union-funded Health Sector Support Programme Belize Project to develop and implement a Clinical Data Exchange Platform to enable interconnectivity and interoperability between various different platforms such as Belize's Health Information System (BHIS).
In June 2024, the Belize Ministry of Health and Wellness announced it was seeking Inter-American Development Bank funding for further integration of digital technologies as part of its work to strengthen the BHIS and develop a more comprehensive framework for telemedicine, starting with a pilot program focused on mental health services.
The country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness will act as the National Release Centre (NRC) for the country. NRCs serve as the interface between SNOMED International, the national users and Affiliates, and other Members.
Read the release here.
Once annually in October, SNOMED International and an individual Member country work together to hold an internationally-attended SNOMED CT event. The event consists of a four-day Business Meeting and a two-day SNOMED CT Expo, supplemented with regional and culturally focused social activities.
With a confirmed vibrant European schedule planned throughout 2025 and April 2026, and with the Americas unable to host, the AsiaPac and Middle East regions are being called on to express interest in hosting the October 2026 Business Meetings and SNOMED CT Expo, partnered with SNOMED International.
SNOMED International now invites 'Expressions of Interest' from Member host countries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions to host the SNOMED International October Business Meetings and SNOMED CT Expo in 2026.
Upcoming SNOMED International Meetings:
- April 6-10, 2025 Business Meetings: Oslo, Norway
- October 18-24, 2025 Business Meetings and SNOMED CT Expo: Antwerp, Belgium
- April 12-16, 2026 Business Meetings: Vienna, Austria
TIMELINE:
- Submit Verbal/Email Expressions of Interest for Review by December 23, 2024
- Submit Formal Proposals by February 7, 2025 with guidance provided by SNOMED International
- Review of Formal Proposals by SNOMED International & Management Board:
End February 2025 - Successful October 2026 Member host country decided upon and announced at the April 2025 Business Meetings.
RESOURCES:
- Learn more about Member country hosting, how to apply and the selection process involved: October Business Meetings & SNOMED CT Expo - Prospective Host Resource Page.
QUESTIONS?
Please contact your applicable CSRM representative, or the Communications team
- Customer Relations Executives:
- Nick Egarhos, Middle East & Africa (neg@snomed.org)
- Liara Tutina, AsiaPac (ltu@snomed.org)
OR
- Communications & Collaborations Executive:
- Kelly Kuru (kku@snomed.org)
Following a March 2024 call for nominations to participate in three SNOMED International advisory groups – Editorial, Modeling and Terminology Release – CEO Don Sweete has approved the following nominations:
- Jeremy Rogers will fill the vacant position on the Editorial Advisory Group;
- Maël Le Gall, Márk Czotter and Stuart Abbott will fill the vacant positions on the Modeling Advisory Group; and
- Alejandro Rodriguez, Dion McMurtrie, Graeme Elsby and Reuben Daniels will fill the vacant positions on the Terminology Release Advisory Group.
Advisory Group participation is voluntary and is designed to provide expert advice on the development and implementation of its products and services. Terms are for two years, with the possibility of a two-year extension.
To learn more about SNOMED International advisory groups, visit IHTSDO Advisory Group Manual Home
At the October 2024 Business Meetings and Expo in Seoul, Korea, SNOMED International announced new appointees to its Management Board, a governance body with legal and oversight responsibility for the direction, management and risk mitigation of SNOMED International, and thanked outgoing members Joanne Burns, Chair; Matic Meglic, Director; and Dr Gong Mengchun, Director, for their many contributions and for navigating many challenges during their tenure, including the COVID-19 pandemic, managing the organizational budget throughout a period of widespread inflation, and developing a strategy to embrace advanced technologies to better position the organization and its Members for the future.
The organization welcomed new Board Chair Andrew Roddam, who has served as a Director since October 2020; and Directors Dr Juana Lucia Flores-Candia, Christian Hein and Bettina McMahon.
“SNOMED International is deeply grateful to our outgoing Management Board Directors for the many contributions they have made, the multifaceted perspectives they have shared and their deep expertise in leadership, healthcare technology and healthcare informatics,” says SNOMED International CEO Don Sweete. “You’ve helped us navigate critical challenges and build greater resilience in turbulent times, and while your term here has ended, your impact will continue to shape our future. We thank you for your dedication and partnership. At the same time, we welcome our new Chair and Directors, and we look forward to their guidance as we begin to execute on our next strategy.”
Read the release here.
WHO and SNOMED International are presently exploring a joint sustainable framework to link ICD-11 and SNOMED CT.
The World Health Organization (WHO) collaborates with various standards-developing organizations to enhance the interoperability of international health information systems. The linkage of the International Classification of Diseases 11th revision (ICD-11) with other terminologies has been a part of WHO's strategic plan since 2001.
SNOMED International is constantly looking for new ways to support Members and our broader community by developing tools and services that will make it easier to implement and use SNOMED CT. We recently launched our Simplex tool, which empowers users to efficiently create, manage and publish custom SNOMED CT extensions and to tailor SNOMED CT to meet their specific needs without incurring high costs. Read our latest Q&A-style blog in which SNOMED International Implementation Team members Anne Højen, Alejandro Lopez Osornio and Kai Kewley explain the tool’s key features, its target audience and how it differs from our Managed Service offering.
Read the blog here.
SNOMED International and the Chile-based National Center for Health Information Systems (Centro Nacional en Sistemas de Información en Salud - CENS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen and support digital health transformation and enable regional healthcare interoperability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). CENS is the executing agency of RACSEL (Latin American and Caribbean Digital Health Network).
The MOU positions SNOMED International as a strategic partner to RACSEL, a collaborative network across LAC.
Collaboration goals
The goal of the MOU is to support the implementation of regional projects to strengthen the capacity of LAC countries in health management by promoting digital transformation in health, focusing on developing a regional agreement for cross-border digital health services, and strengthening the health information exchange model implemented in the region through the adoption of standards, architectures, governance and protocols, and data exchange and interoperability protocols.
SNOMED International’s role in the collaboration will include supporting health data interoperability and the implementation of SNOMED CT and other health data standards and providing education through webinars and other educational offerings. The organization will also participate in various activities to help promote health data interoperability initiatives across the LAC region.
The organizations will work together to develop guidelines and protocols for the exchange of public health data and care information, including semantic and syntactic components, and to support participating countries in their adoption. They will also collaborate on developing architectural components and security frameworks for the exchange of healthcare, public health and telehealth data, and on identifying other areas where effective and practical cooperation may be possible.
Read the release here.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce the release of the SNOMED CT Clinical Implementation Guide for Cancer Synoptic Reporting, a comprehensive resource to facilitate standardized and structured reporting in cancer care.
Designed to enable healthcare organizations to improve the quality of information captured, facilitate data exchange, support research initiatives, and enhance collaboration among healthcare providers, the guide provides clinicians with an overview of the content of SNOMED CT that supports cancer synoptic reporting and highlights the role of SNOMED CT in standardizing and enhancing cancer reporting practices.
The scope of the guide is specific to the creation of SNOMED CT concepts necessary to unambiguously represent the data elements required for cancer reporting for all adult and pediatric solid tumors as published by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). The content is specific to structure pathology reporting of malignant neoplasms as specified by the CAP and ICCR.
Read the release here: https://www.snomed.org/news/snomed-ct-clinical-implementation-guide-for-cancer-synoptic-reporting-supports-accurate-documentation-and-improved-information-sharing
View the guide here: SNOMED CT Clinical Implementation Guide for Cancer Synoptic Reporting
Over the past year, SNOMED International has established a clinical regional network focused on Spanish-speakers in Latin America.
The network continues to build on the SNOMED International offerings currently available in Spanish, including the SNOMED CT International Edition in Spanish, which is released twice a year; the SNOMED CT Foundation course in Spanish (Curso de Fundamentos de SNOMED CT); and a Confluence space for Spanish-speaking SNOMED CT users.
The purpose of the network is to equip clinicians and other SNOMED CT users in Latin American non-SNOMED International Member countries with basic knowledge of the clinical terminology and the benefits it offers to patients, providers, and other stakeholders. It also functions as a forum for sharing experiences and for community support to resolve common questions and challenges. The discussions and real-world use cases shared in this network are valuable input for the further development of the terminology.
Read our latest blog post to learn more.
On October 23, 2024, as part of SNOMED CT Expo 2024 pre-conference sessions, SNOMED International is hosting a half-day workshop on traditional medicine. In this blog, Liara Tutina, SNOMED International’s Customer Relations Executive Asia and Pacific & Global Education Lead, and Yongsheng Gao, Senior Terminologist, discuss the growing need for traditional medicine content in SNOMED CT and the benefits of its inclusion.
Read it to learn how we define traditional medicine, the goal of our traditional medicine project, the process of including more of this type of content in SNOMED CT, the challenges posed by integrating various global traditions into the terminology and the learning goals for the October 23, 2024 session.
Read the blog.
Visit our Traditional Medicine Confluence page for more information on the project.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce that Hungary has become a SNOMED International Member. Hungary will join a community of 49 Members globally. It is the fifth following the announcement of EU funding for Member states wishing to adopt SNOMED CT.
Since launching an electronic patient record in 2017, Hungary’s efforts to further digitize the healthcare system were spurred in part – as in many countries – by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2023, Dr Péter Takács, Hungary’s State Secretary for Health, made strengthening the country’s health resources, infrastructure and delivery, harnessing technology and innovation to better serve its population, and nurturing its health and care workforce its main priorities.
Read the release to learn more about how Hungary's digital health efforts and SNOMED CT activities position the country to achieve its goals of a data-driven health system.
SNOMED International is pleased to announce that the October 2024 Business Meetings schedule and SNOMED CT Expo 2024 program have been confirmed, and early-bird registration* is now open for the only global conference focused on SNOMED CT.
The hybrid October Business Meetings will be held from October 19-23, 2024, followed by SNOMED CT Expo 2024 from October 24-25, both located at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Seoul, Korea. The Expo will also be delivered online, with Zoom Events.
Please visit the links below for more information:
October 2024 Business Meetings
Why attend?
- Learn about global SNOMED CT implementations, interesting research and exciting advances in interoperability and digital health around the world.
- Support discussion, knowledge exchange, and the ongoing development of SNOMED CT.
- Connect with colleagues, share your expertise and grow your professional network.
*Early-bird registration for the Expo ends on August 12th.
Attending the Business Meetings online?
Zoom links for all ‘open’ meetings will be shared on the SNOMED International "What's on this Week" calendar.
Please note that pre-registration for these is NOT required.
Coming to Seoul?
SNOMED International has negotiated a special delegate rate at the venue, available to book until 25th September, 2024 (subject to availability). Spaces are limited so we advise that you act now and take advantage of their flexible cancellation policy.
Please click here to book your room.
We hope to see you there - either in Seoul, or online!
Questions?
Contact events@snomed.org
We thank our sponsors and exhibitors:
Building on the success of the 2023 SNOMED International and Bahmni Coalition collaboration, SNOMED International has formally joined the Bahmni Coalition. Bahmni, a digital public good, is an easy-to-use, open-source hospital system for healthcare providers in low-resource settings.
The Bahmni Coalition is a group of organizations involved in the product across various capacities, including partners that use Bahmni’s open-source electronic medical record (EMR) and hospital information system and partners who contribute to Bahmni’s ongoing development and implementation, and offer related services.
SNOMED International worked with the Coalition throughout 2023 to integrate SNOMED CT, the world’s most comprehensive clinical terminology, into the Bahmni EMR, enabling clinicians to record diagnoses and other clinical data. The SNOMED CT-enabled EMR can also be used for reporting and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) use-cases, for searching and saving diagnoses, receiving alerts when a drug-diagnosis interaction is contraindicated, generating diagnosis reports, and creating forms. With the integration of SNOMED CT, patient records can be standardized and therefore more easily exchanged with other electronic health records.
As part of the Coalition, SNOMED International will work with other members to advance the organization’s mission and goals, build support for the Bahmni EMR, participate in and drive marketing activities, and participate in the Coalition’s various committees.
Over 2024, the Coalition will continue to seek feedback on its 2024 roadmap for the Bahmni EMR and define and develop new features.
Read the news release to learn more.
