SNOMED International and its Members are pleased to announce the expansion of the Global Patient Set, building on the success of the first released Global Patient Set launched in 2019.
Designed to meet the evolving needs of healthcare systems and users worldwide, the Global Patient Set (GPS) offers an open, and freely accessible collection of SNOMED CT terms that support the accurate, consistent exchange of essential patient information — regardless of geographic location or technical environment.
The GPS reflects SNOMED International’s ongoing commitment to supporting global health interoperability, improving patient outcomes, and advancing equitable access to high-quality clinical terminologies.
What’s New with the Global Patient Set?
Broader Scope: The GPS will now include all content in the SNOMED CT International Edition, which significantly exceeds the currently scoped collection of concepts to better support core health data exchange, public health reporting, research, and more.
GPS offers global access to all SNOMED CT unique identifiers, fully specified names (FSNs), preferred terms in international English, and active/inactive indicators — made available at no cost to users worldwide.
*The GPS does not include SNOMED CT’s full semantic structure, including inherent relationships, hierarchies, and additional descriptions, nor access to any SNOMED CT derivatives, including reference sets, maps, extensions or translations.
Open for All: The GPS continues to be openly available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, ensuring it remains free for use worldwide, without barriers.
Alignment with Global Initiatives: The GPS is designed to complement international efforts such as HL7 FHIR and other health data standards, including regional interoperability approaches such as EHDS.
Practical, Actionable Terminology: The GPS provides the clinically validated terms needed to support the safe, reliable exchange of patient data across borders, health systems, and digital health platforms.
Supporting Global Interoperability
"Building on years of collaboration with the global health community, the GPS is a key tool to help countries, organizations, and digital health innovators exchange critical health information effectively — no matter where care is delivered," said Don Sweete, CEO of SNOMED International.
Whether a country is establishing its national terminology strategy or an organization is developing health IT solutions, the GPS offers insight and a guiding and practical pathway to benefit from SNOMED CT’s rich, clinically proven content.
The GPS is a practical, open-access resource for governments, health authorities, digital health innovators, and global health stakeholders to enable limited standardized health information exchange, with particular emphasis on improving interoperability, public health reporting, and equitable access to clinical terminology worldwide.
With the GPS, SNOMED International is expanding access to foundational and standard clinical terms supporting interoperability in emerging and cross-border health systems. For Members and implementers of healthcare solutions, the value of the SNOMED CT International Edition and related products remains unmatched—full access to the ontology, tools, and governance that make SNOMED CT the global standard for semantic interoperability supporting advanced health data solutions.
Access the Global Patient Set
The Global Patient Set is available now and can be downloaded free of charge. For more information, including guidance and tools, visit the GPS website or contact gps@snomed.org.