Purpose

There are three distinct situations in which an extension producer may end support for a reference set in an extension.

• Responsibility for maintenance of a reference set is transferred to another extension producer or to SNOMED International
  • For example, a reference set currently maintained as part of a National extension may be transferred to SNOMED International if it has recognized international value.
• A decision is made to stop maintaining a reference set, without transferring the responsibility to another organization
  • For example, an organization may no longer have the resources to maintain a reference set that it created, although the reference set is still considered useful.
• A decision is made to deprecate use of an existing reference set
  • For example, if a reference set is no longer relevant, has been superseded by a more useful reference set, or is considered inaccurate or misleading in some way.