Republic of Korea

The Korean Ministry of Health and Social Welfare advances its digital health journey with membership in SNOMED International for the nationwide use of the most comprehensive global clinical terminology, SNOMED CT.  Adoption of SNOMED CT in Korea will enable health information exchange anytime, anywhere between participating medical institutions.

A priority in Korea, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and related health care organizations are undertaking various Health IT priority initiatives such as Health Information Exchange, electronic medical record certification and Data-centered Hospitals, each of which are contributing elements in developing Korea’s national interoperability roadmap.  The use of standardized terminologies and vocabularies, like SNOMED CT, are recommended for the breadth of these initiatives.

To promote the use of SNOMED CT as a reference terminology, the Korean Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has already developed maps of the Disease Classification and Medical Procedure Codes used for National Health Insurance claims to SNOMED CT.  Korea’s SNOMED CT mapping efforts will continue with remaining medical service areas such as long-term care, medical images, basic treatments, hospice care, emergency services, anesthesia, traditional medicine, meals, and pharmacy.  Further, the Republic will pursue the development of relevant SNOMED CT reference sets to target codification of Korea’s national health care priorities.

More information about SNOMED CT in the Republic of Korea can be accessed at: www.k-his.or.kr