|
- Note: HL7 New Zealand will be offering a workshop on SNOMED at IHIC 2007.
------------------------------------------------------------------
New
Zealand,
with eight other nations, is a founding member of the newly-formed International
Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO, also known as
SNOMED SDO). The IHTSDO has
acquired the intellectual property rights of SNOMED Clinical Terms
(SNOMED
CT)
and its antecedents from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for US$7.8
million, marking a milestone in the international standardization of heath data.
The
new international organisation has assumed responsibility for
SNOMED
CT’s
ongoing maintenance, development, quality assurance, and distribution. The CAP will continue to support SDO
operations under an initial 3-year contract and will continue to provide
SNOMED-related products and services as a licensee of the
terminology.
“We
are delighted with the initial success of this truly international undertaking.”
said Professor Martin Severs, IHTSDO Management Board chair.
“Making
SNOMED CT
available this way is an example of how global health cooperation can have an
important impact on health systems, services, and products around the
world.”
“As
the international adoption and use of SNOMED
CT
has grown, it has become apparent that an international governance structure
that would be open to the entire global healthcare community would be to
everyone’s benefit,” said Thomas Sodeman, MD, FCAP, president of the
College
of American
Pathologists.
“The College is proud to have assisted in this important milestone.”
The
Ministry of Health's Deputy Director-General of Corporate and Information,
Debbie Chin, said "Joining the IHTSDO now as a Charter (i.e. founding) Member is
of real benefit to the New
Zealand
health system. It will place us at
the forefront of international health development, and allow
New
Zealand
to benefit from the other member countries' expertise in deriving maximum
benefit from SNOMED
CT”.
“Adoption
of SNOMED
CT
will deliver a wide range of benefits” she said. “Critically, it will better enable the
creation and use of structured and unambiguous clinical information by health
professionals”.
Having
secured the rights for New
Zealand
to use SNOMED
CT,
the Ministry of Health will now take two steps. First, it will put in place the
arrangements required for licensing and distribution of
SNOMED
CT
in New
Zealand. Second, it will work with the health and
disability sector to determine how SNOMED
CT
can best be adopted across the sector and how the Ministry of Health can
facilitate and support that ongoing process.
The
Ministry’s membership of the IHTSDO has been supported by the Health
Information
Strategy Action Committee (HISAC). “Adoption of
SNOMED
CT is an
important component in achieving the goals of the Health Information Strategy
for New Zealand 2005. Consistent
and uniform use of clinical coding and terminology use across the health sector
is important for patient safety and quality of care.” said Chai Chuah, Acting
Chair of HISAC. “The Committee is delighted that the Ministry
has secured the rights for New
Zealand
to use SNOMED
CT,
and now looks forward to working with the Ministry over the question of its
adoption across the health and disability sector”.
For
vendors of health information systems, the adoption of
SNOMED
CT
is expected to underpin development the next generation of health and patient
information systems. New Zealand
will provide SNOMED CT® to users by way of an Affiliate License which will
contain the conditions for use that require acceptance prior to accessing SNOMED
CT®. The Ministry is currently
considering what fees may be charged for licensing.
The
IHTSDO is registered in Copenhagen,
Denmark
as a not-for-profit association. The Charter Members are organisations representing
Australia,
Canada,
Denmark,
Lithuania,
the Netherlands,
New
Zealand,
Sweden,
United
Kingdom,
and United
States of America. Membership is open to all countries, and
there is a provision for sponsored use in developing countries. The IHTSDO will establish formal
harmonization activities with other organizations, including the World Health
Organization (WHO), to promote effective interoperability between
SNOMED
CT
and other health data standards.
Further
information including a description of the IHTSDO’s goals, open and
participatory governance process, uniform licensing terms, other base
information and answers to FAQs are available at the IHTSDO Web site
http://www.ihtsdo.org/.
Press release from http://www.moh.govt.nz
|
