Our partners
SNOMED International has an active program of partnering with international standards development organizations, professional clinical bodies and commercial organizations. The goal is to facilitate the use of SNOMED CT with other international standards and profiles.
The SNOMED CT Included badge represents content fully integrated as part of SNOMED CT.
While partners retain ownership of their content, SNOMED International manages, produces, releases and distributes it as part of SNOMED CT.
The focus of partnerships is to enhance consistency in meaningful data capture and information exchange and to improve safety, while enhancing functionality and enabling interoperability for the growing number of healthcare professions that use and exchange electronic health records using SNOMED CT and related products.
Some of the resulting products include mappings, SNOMED CT subsets and guidance on the use of SNOMED CT alongside, and integrated with, other standards.
Search and filter our Partners
The American Medical Association (AMA) and SNOMED International have a collaborative agreement to coordinate on the design and development of their respective coding and terminology products.
The AMA works collaboratively alongside other leading standards-development organizations (SDOs) like SNOMED International to advance our mutual missions to seek the clear and timely exchange of clinical information across health systems as part of our pursuit of safe, effective and patient-driven health care.
Clinical Partner
American Medical Association
In July 2022, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and SNOMED International entered into a licensing agreement to include agreed upon American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) references in SNOMED CT. The AJCC is administered by the Chicago-based American College of Surgeons.
Clinical Partner
American Joint Committee on Cancer
A relationship initially forged in 2015, the objective of the agreement is to improve the visibility of rare diseases in terminologies and promote interoperability among different codification and terminology systems, such as SNOMED CT for the benefit of their shared users globally.
In February 2020, the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) and SNOMED International took steps to renew their relationship governing the rare disease content included in SNOMED CT. Orphanet, the Inserm unit dedicated to knowledge on rare diseases, maintains the Orphanet nomenclature of rare diseases (ORPHA codes) and provides a multilingual database of information related to rare diseases and orphan drugs.
Clinical Partner
INSERM
In 2021, SNOMED International announced a new collaboration agreement with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to include the Academy’s Nutrition Care Process Terminology (NCPT) version 2020 in the International Edition of SNOMED CT.
The NCPT supports the Academy’s Nutrition Care Process, which is a systematic approach to providing high-quality nutrition care that includes nutrition assessment, diagnosis, intervention and monitoring/evaluation. The Academy’s Nutrition Care Process Research Outcomes Committee developed and maintains the NCPT.
Clinical Partner
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
On August 11 2020, SNOMED International and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) announced that they had again joined forces, this time with an agreement that has paved the way for the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) to be managed, produced, released and distributed by SNOMED International, fully integrated as part of SNOMED CT.
This agreement, which is the culmination of years of collaboration between the two organizations, will see ICN retain ownership of ICNP and continue to define its content so that it meets the needs of the global nursing profession. The agreement aligns with increasing global health digitisation, the widespread use of SNOMED CT-enabled electronic health records (EHR), and the documentation of ICNP-specific content by nurses around the world.
The key aspect of the agreement is the incorporation of ICNP 2019 into SNOMED CT and the consequent production and distribution of an ICNP 2019 SNOMED CT reference set by SNOMED International on behalf of ICN with subsequent annual releases.
In October 2021, SNOMED International and ICN announced the production release of a new reference set, the International Classification of Nursing Practice (ICNP) SNOMED CT Nursing Practice Refset.
Clinical Partner
International Council of Nurses
Clinical partnerships
Commercial
American Medical Association
AMA and SNOMED International have been collaborating since 2016 on strengthening our global relationship and developing our respective coding and terminology solutions, SNOMED CT and the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set. Both organizations believe that an increasingly common medical language elevates the potential for more research and better health outcomes throughout the globe.
Working in tandem, the collaboration allows for the continued improvement of content to better support existing and emerging uses of health data globally.
Press releases:
August 2020: The AMA and SNOMED launch joint demonstration project to enable better outcomes and enhanced resource utilization
October 2016: AMA and IHTSDO announce collaborative health terminology agreement
Visit AMA for more information.
American Joint Committee on Cancer
The focus of the agreement enables SNOMED International to include updated AJCC staging concepts critical to understanding cancer and treating patients, while eliminating outdated AJCC content no longer relevant to clinical care within SNOMED CT.
Press release:
INSERM
The focus of the collaborative work was to incorporate an initial set of Orphanet into SNOMED CT and create a map between SNOMED CT and the corresponding Orphanet content. This facilitates the movement of rare disease information from EHRs to research and other uses of Orphanet data in a consistent and standardized way.
The organizations worked together to initially align a priority set (3500) of Orphanet Rare Diseases in SNOMED CT and in October 2021 produced a map between SNOMED CT and Orphanet for implementation. Work has continued to complete the alignment of all Rare Disease content in Orphanet with SNOMED CT and additional maps have been included in the 2022 map release (based on Member requirements) and the work will be completed for the 2023 release of the map, after which both organisations are committed to maintenance and updating annually.
Content added to SNOMED CT using definitions agreed by Orphanet's rare disease experts as part of developing Orphanet.
This work is a key component of the SNOMED International Genomics strategy.
Press release:
October 2021: INSERM and SNOMED International release SNOMED CT to Orphanet map supporting representation and use
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The agreement formalizes the work SNOMED and the Academy have been doing since 2017 when representatives from the Academy and other nutrition and dietetics associations around the world requested the inclusion of the NCPT in the SNOMED CT International Edition. SNOMED and the Academy established the NCPT Clinical Project Group, a SNOMED International project group which includes representatives from both organizations along with international users to guide and facilitate the work.
The five-year agreement governs the working relationship between the Academy and SNOMED International regarding the maintenance and updating of NCPT content in SNOMED CT. Related activities also include developing an approach to the method and content of attribution, developing and maintaining processes based on changes to SNOMED CT over time, and to managing additions and changes to the NCPT. Both organizations will work together to build awareness of the benefits of this initiative among dietetic and nutrition professionals and will consider future collaborative activities based on emerging global requirements.
AND content is included in SNOMED CT as of January 2023 with plans to work towards producing a SNOMED CT refset.
Press Release:
International Council of Nurses
ICN and SNOMED International have previously delivered tables between ICNP and SNOMED CT for Nursing Diagnoses and Nursing Interventions which are now deprecated and replaced by ICNP.
In October 2021, SNOMED International and ICN announced the production release of a new reference set, the International Classification of Nursing Practice (ICNP) SNOMED CT Nursing Practice Refset. Access within SNOMED International Member countries is provided by the Member National Release Centre in each country, via the relevant Member webpage. Affiliates of SNOMED International in non-Member countries can access the ICNP SNOMED CT Nursing Practice Refset through their Member Licensing Distribution Service (MLDS) account. ICNP and the equivalence tables are also available for download from the ICN website.
SNOMED International’s Nursing Clinical Reference Group brings an international perspective on both the content and equivalences, thus providing a measure of quality assurance.
With ICN’s permission, this refset has been included in the scope of SNOMED International's Global Patient Set.
Press releases:
October 2021: New ICNP-SNOMED CT Nursing Practice Refset is first product from recent agreement
April 2016: International Council of Nurses (ICN) and IHTSDO deliver second collaborative product
Standards partnerships
GS1
In April 2016, IHTSDO and GS1 signed a Collaboration Agreement focusing on specific areas of joint work, building on a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) established to facilitate liaison between the two organizations and committing to closer working to ensure compatibility between our respective standards where appropriate.
The agreement will be reviewed and evaluated to explore how the two organizations may continue to collaborate in 2023.
DICOM
In March 2016, SNOMED International and the DICOM Standards Committee signed a SNOMED CT Licensing Agreement. This was the first agreement between the two organizations, clarifying the use of SNOMED CT in DICOM standards and how the SNOMED CT content should be managed over time. The SNOMED CT Licensing Agreement is for 5 years.
In 2021, SNOMED International and DICOM formally extended their longstanding agreement to publish a SNOMED CT Freeset of coded concepts in the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Standard.
IHE International
In April 2019, IHE International and SNOMED International formally announced a license agreement encouraging data consistency and interoperability across international boundaries, with benefits for clinical care, research and operational efficiency.
LOINC®
In 2013, IHTSDO and Regenstrief Institute Inc. signed a long-term agreement to begin cooperative work linking their leading global health care terminologies: Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, or LOINC®, and SNOMED CT.
In October 2022, the two organizations signed a new collaboration agreement facilitating the adoption of standardized terminology to support broadened interoperability of health data exchange around the globe with the goal of enhancing and improving the delivery of healthcare. The agreement also paved the way forward for coordinated use of SNOMED CT and LOINC® by both SNOMED International and Regenstrief, with each retaining editorial control of its respective standard.
In October 2023, and under the scope of the 2022 agreement, LOINC® from Regenstrief and SNOMED International commenced
generation of The LOINC Ontology: A LOINC and SNOMED CT interoperability solution.
HL7 International
In July 2019, Health Level Seven® Inc. and SNOMED International announced another 2 year collaboration agreement, building on previous agreements in 2009, 2014 and 2016. The agreement again is aimed at improving interoperability, thus focusing on the adoption of working practices that facilitate the use of SNOMED CT with HL7 standards globally. As previously, both organisations are working towards avoiding duplication of effort and resolving issues related to gaps and overlaps.
The agreement recently renewed in 2021, target activities have been planned up to July 2023, at which point a review of delivered work products and upcoming activities will be undertaken.
Joint Initiative Council
The Joint Initiative Council for Global Health Informatics Standardization (JIC) was formed to further the important role of health informatics standards to:
Enable interoperability of information and processes across health domains;
Support the timely, efficient delivery of safe, coordinated, accountable, high-quality health services to individuals, communities and populations; and,
Facilitate effective global markets for health information systems.
Visit http://www.jointinitiativecouncil.org/ for a list of participating Members.
World Health Organization
SNOMED International and WHO have experienced a formal collaborative relationship since 2010 when they first entered into a ground-breaking collaborative arrangement that would change the relationship between the two organizations and their respective standards, by enabling users of SNOMED CT to use WHO classifications jointly and interoperably.
International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use
In 2021, SNOMED International and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) announced the release of important new maps between global medical terminologies SNOMED CT and MedDRA. This collaborative effort was the first deliverable of a new agreement entered into between SNOMED International and ICH.
Global Medical Device Nomenclature Agency
In 2012, SNOMED International and Global Medical Device Nomenclature Agency (GMDNA), the organization responsible for the international Global Medical Device Nomenclature© (GMDN), signed a 5 year Cooperation Agreement. A key focus of the Agreement was to exchange, harmonize and incorporate medical device term descriptions from each other to enhance the end-to-end patient risk and safety use cases in healthcare systems incorporating medical device information.
Education partnerships
Digital China Health
In 2019, Digital China Health and SNOMED International struck an agreement to deliver mutually agreed upon SNOMED CT educational content including the organization’s clinically and technically curated Foundation and Implementation courses, with the potential to also offer the organizations suite of Authoring courses for delivery. As part of this agreement, Digital China Health will serve as an extension of the SNOMED International Education Program within China and be empowered to issue course completion certificates and certifications as applicable.
University of Eastern Finland
In 2020, the University of Eastern Finland and SNOMED International struck an agreement to deliver mutually agreed upon SNOMED CT educational content including the organization's professionally curated Foundation course, with the potential to also offer the Implementation Course and suite of Authoring courses. As a result of this agreement, the University of Eastern Finland will serve as an extension of the SNOMED International Education Program within parts of Finland and be empowered to issue course completion certificates and certifications as applicable.
Research partnerships
Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics
In June 2022, the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) community and SNOMED International formalized their long-time relationship with a five-year collaborative agreement that will benefit both of their user communities.
The collaboration provides OHDSI and its user community with comprehensive ontologies on specific healthcare domains and content such as devices, social determinants of health, disease severity scores and modifiers of cancers, as well as better concept definitions and resolutions of composite concepts in large-scale observational research.
Human Phenotype Ontology
In 2022, the Monarch Initiative signed a five-year collaboration agreement with SNOMED International to develop maps from the clinical terminology SNOMED CT to Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), a standardized vocabulary of phenotypic abnormalities encountered in human disease, and to HPO from SNOMED CT.
