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SNOMED International’s Global Patient Set: Navigating International Patient Care & Interoperability

17 Apr 2019

London, United Kingdom, April 17, 2019 -- At SNOMED International’s April Business Meeting held in London last week, the organization announced to its Community of Practice the planned release of a Global Patient Set built from its globally recognized SNOMED CT clinical terminology standard.


SNOMED International will release the Global Patient Set, or GPS, to support the cross border movement of information, and ultimately health system interoperability. Once released, the GPS, a controlled list of existing SNOMED CT unique concept identifiers, single descriptions and reference sets, will be available to all interested parties at no cost to users.


The Chair of the organization’s General Assembly, Lies van Gennip, is delighted to share with health systems and industry what the Global Patient Set provides to Members and non-Members alike. “The Global Patient Set enables easier specification of EHR requirements, e.g. a patient summary, and results in improved interoperability. The Set will also offer non-Members considering SNOMED CT use a mechanism for greater insight into the product and its value without requiring initial investment.”


CEO, Don Sweete, emphasizes that the release of the GPS serves as a stepping stone to leverage the true value of SNOMED CT’s polyhierarchical design. “An innovative offering, it is worth noting that the Global Patient Set offers a limited function of SNOMED CT. Providing a flat list of existing concepts and reference sets, the GPS is positioned to support cross border interoperability and enhanced digital maturity as users move towards decision support and full analytics capabilities in their respective strategies” said Sweete in his discussions with the SNOMED CT Community of Practice last week.


Chief among its advantages, SNOMED International Members benefit from a terminology that enables interoperability, reduced clinical risk, large scale public health reporting and research, along with a wealth of organization resources including education, tooling, creation of national extensions, representation on governance bodies, and dedicated on-boarding and user support. 


Over the coming months, SNOMED International will formalize the steps and due diligence required to make the GPS offering available for release September 1, 2019. Throughout this period, SNOMED International will continue to define the Global Patient Set, from content through to its release and maintenance approach. Refer to SNOMED International’s Global Patient Set resources  to learn more as this initiative progresses. Subscribe with the organization’s news service to keep up to date on developments as they occur.


For additional information, contact info@snomed.org.


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