SNOMED-CT is a standardized clinical terminology system that enables computers to understand medical concepts and their relationships. It consists of over a million concept codes along with descriptions, relationships between concepts, and other components. Concepts are linked by defined relationships, such as "is a" and causative relationships, to describe clinical meanings and aid in indexing, retrieving, and exchanging clinical data to support clinical decision-making.

1. SNOMED-CTSudeep Bansal, MD

2. What is SNOMED CT?Standard Vocabulary of medicine- Clinical TermsBasically enables the computer to understand medical lingo and act on it (e.g. CDSS)Consists over a million concept codes

4. ComponentsCore ComponentsConcept CodesDescriptions or TermsRelationshipsOther ComponentsCross MapReference setsExtensions

5. Concept & DescriptionsIt is unit of thought or meaning which is given a unique string which is computer readableE.g. Myocardial Infarction 22298006This concept may have many descriptionsCardiac InfarctionHeart AttackInfarction of the heart

6. RelationshipsConcepts are linked to each other by “Relationships” “Is a” - Myocardial Infarction “Is a” heart disease which “Is a” a non-communicable diseaseCausative relationship – Bacterial Pneumonia

7. Real World UseRecording, Indexing, Retrieval and Exchange of clinical data Clinical Decision SupportPatient Record = AsthmaCDSS criteria = Chronic Cardiorespiratory disorderPhysician reminder = Influenza vaccination

8. ReferencesNational Library of Medicine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/Snomed/snomed_main.htmlInternational Health Terminology Standards Development Organization http://www.ihtsdo.org/http://www.ihtsdo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Docs_01/SNOMED_Clinical_Terms_Fundamentals.pdfhttp://www.ihtsdo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Docs_01/Publications/doc_UserGuide_Current-en-US_INT_20100131.pdf