University of Ghent (2 of 2)

SNOClass: a Belgian terminology project for mapping relevant SNOMED CT concepts to WHO Family of Classifications in 3 domains: ICHI for Procedures and interventions; ICF for functionality and disability; and ICPC-3 for Family Medicine/Primary Care

EMEA

Data quality, EHDS (European Health Data Space), Mapping, Research, Tooling

In 2025, the National Release Centre of the Belgian Health Terminology Centre launched 3 coordinated terminology projects aiming to map relevant SNOMED CT concepts to classifications supporting documentation of interventions, functionality and general practice.

For each of the 3 domains, top experts cooperated in selecting a relevant sample of SNOMED CT concepts, either based on frequency of use in clinical practice of lexical entries or core sets of SNOMED CT.

Experienced coders selected exact matches between SNOMED CT, on the one hand, and stem codes (classes) or inclusion terms of the different classifications, on the other hand, considering the level of aggregation in the upper and lower hierarchy of SNOMED CT.

This mapping was supported by a thorough examination of the alignment of SNOMED CT domains, hierarchy(semantic) tags and attributes with the axes, used to build the different classifications.

The existing ontological representation of concept relationships in SNOMED CT and in the Foundational Component of the WHO Family of International Classifications is intensely used to support the mapping process.

The objective of the 3 projects is to develop the methodology for mapping, to map a relevant sample of SNOMED CT codes in one-to-one exact maps to stem codes and inclusion terms, and to estimate the effort to complete a full map.

Moreover, some recommendations will be formulated to integrate these mappings into man-machine interface at the point of care for data entry once and multiple use.

Description

The scope of this Belgian terminology project is mapping relevant SNOMED CT concepts to WHO Family of Classifications in 3 domains: ICHI for Procedures and interventions; ICF for functionality and disability; and ICPC-3 for Family Medicine/Primary Care. Hence the focus is on mapping between conceptual systems, such as reference terminologies and aggregation terminologies.

Scope

SNOMED CT was selected with the role of reference terminology, covering all concepts needed for clinical care. The Ontological structure of the resource and the complex and the possibility to use the constraint language to explore volume and hierarchy in domains, semantic tags, and attributes. It was chosen because the Belgian Government gives a central role to SNOMED CT in the road to digital transformation in e-Health.