Glossary, documentation
What is SNOMED CT?
SNOMED CT is a structured clinical terminology, maintained by SNOMED International, that gives findings, diagnoses, procedures and other clinical concepts a unique code and defined relationships to one another. It lets the meaning of a clinical record be shared between systems and analysed consistently.
Updated . Defined by the wai team for clinics, groups and health systems.
Also called SNOMED or Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms.
Why SNOMED CT matters to a clinic
SNOMED International describes SNOMED CT as the most comprehensive multilingual clinical terminology in the world, with over 360,000 concepts in its International Edition and use in more than eighty countries.1 That depth lets a record say exactly what was found.
ICD-10 groups conditions for statistics and claims. SNOMED CT records clinical detail at the point of care, and many records keep both, with the SNOMED term in the note and the ICD-10 code on the claim.
For a clinic, coded records make audits, recalls and reports possible without reading every note by hand.
Questions
Is SNOMED CT the same as ICD-10?
No. SNOMED CT is a detailed clinical terminology for the record, and ICD-10 is a classification for statistics and claims. See ICD-10 coding.
Who maintains SNOMED CT?
SNOMED International maintains it, and releases the International Edition monthly.1 See interoperability for how coded records move between systems.
Sources
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