London, United Kingdom, and British Columbia, Canada

SNOMED International and the International Diet Dysphagia Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) have signed an agreement to incorporate IDDSI Framework v2.0 content into SNOMED CT to enable use in electronic health records globally.

SNOMED International is a not-for-profit organization charged with setting global standards for health terminology, a critical element of safe and effective healthcare. SNOMED CT is a comprehensive, multilingual healthcare terminology created for use by healthcare professionals to capture the care of individuals in an electronic health record and facilitate sharing, decision support and analytics, to support safe and effective health information exchange.

IDDSI is an international not-for-profit organization that has developed an international framework for dysphagia diets with standardised terminology, descriptions and testing methods for texture-modified foods and thickened drinks. IDDSI is currently supporting global adoption and implementation of IDDSI standards.

Peter Lam, IDDSI Chair, expressed that, “The agreement with SNOMED is another exciting and positive step to meeting IDDSI's goal of improving the safety of people of all ages, all cultures, and in all care settings, who are living with dysphagia.”  

In effect since mid-September 2022, the agreement has been driven by community requests as well as by the need identified by the SNOMED International Nutrition Care Process Terminology (NCPT) Clinical Project Group to include IDDSI Framework v2.0 content in order to facilitate the inclusion of NCPT in SNOMED CT. 

Content will be created for each framework level consistent with the IDDSI standard terminology and definitions subject to SNOMED CT editorial guidance, while additional content will be added to facilitate recording the use of the framework and diet scale together with related findings and interventions. The content will be included in SNOMED CT International Edition monthly releases as the IDDSI Framework v2.0 related content is incorporated into the clinical terminology.

“Dysphagia is a condition that becomes more prevalent with aging, and since there is an increasing percentage of people over the age of 65 globally, it is a condition that will require more attention,” says SNOMED International CEO Don Sweete. “This agreement helps address that challenge by making it easier to share patient data in electronic health records among organizations treating or supporting patients with dysphagia.”

Both organizations will develop a communications plan to ensure stakeholders are kept up-to-date as the work progresses.