Snomed Clinical Term Code

By Author: John Edword
Total Articles: 11
Comment this article

The common language between the two code sets could be SNOMED-CT

The criteria of Stage 2 Meaningful Use is increasing as per requirements of Stage 1 to improve and utilize further EMR and health care IT for reliable, cooperative care delivery for any specific patient between different provider groups. It means that these systems require a communication with each other. Their common language is the only way to understand each other. According to Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, this language is SNOMED-CT, for the problem list in charts of patient especially.
It is standard in the US and internationally, that without cost it is available from the Medicine. The usage of this language empowers EMR and providers to communicate in a common language. SNOMED-CT also improves the correctness in analysis of patient data.

SNOMED-CT comes to EHR
As the adoption of SNOMED CT is essential for all health care providers by 2015 to qualify for the certification of meaningful use, the health system is on the front line of a national movement. Presently, most of the providers use the International Classification of Diseases, ...
... Clinical Modification ICD-9-CM.

Descriptive CT Code
The requirement for meaningful use is the usage of standardized problem list. Ultimately, the leaders of health IT expect that standardizing vocabulary will be one of the main forces which help to promote interoperability between health care facilities, as well as the applications of hardware and software.

SNOMED CT to EHR Systems
Some of the clinical leaders approve the value of SNOMED CT, but the transition from the recent ICD-9-CM is a big implementation job. Most of the physicians don’t have problem lists, period in their EHR Systems. Most importantly, there is a migration in the industry to ICD-10-CM scheduled to take place in the middle of the transition according to the planning.
The other reason of the problem is that EHR vendors using their own proprietary abbreviations and descriptions of the condition of patients.

ICD-10 could not be replaced
This is the requirement for physician to learn how to communicate with EHRs, according to the SNOMED, obey with Meaningful Use. So its transition already is in the works.
But on the classification system, all of the collected data, using SNOMED-CT will be reported. ICD-9 doesn't have new procedures, risk factors, diseases and injuries. Most of the part of the ICD-10 code set because the physician groups want those statistics.
Either the physicians believe or not, the especial reporting will be required by the Affordable Care Act so the new factors of quality can be tracked.
Basically, the specificity of documentation is the problems not the ICD-10 codes are which require some other different ways. That makes it easier to document to the required specificity. From data conversion into the ICD information it is up to the EHR system. About the usage of physicians, it is very suitable to talk that is how they use SNOMED-CT to enter data.

SNOMED-CT has a role in ICD-10 implementation
SNOMED-CT and ICD-10 are completely different system but working perfectly with each other. SNOMED-CT is designed for the input into an electronic health record system where as the ICD-10 is to output or report. The Health care providers have to become used to of the SNOMED-CT for the usage of their EHRs and to get qualified for the Meaningful Use Incentives. This work will make it easier for the documentation of the specificity which is required for ICD-10 implementation.