3 minute read
Body language
For Dr Charles Gutteridge, Clinical Engagement Lead at SNOMED CT, the safe, accurate and effective exchange of health information is an essential part of the foundation to improve global healthcare
When Dr Charles Gutteridge rearranged his consulting room so that patients could sit alongside him and look at their test results on a computer screen, the response was more than encouraging. “It was transformative,” he says. “Patients became engaged and invested in their own health. They felt represented electronically and empowered.” The veteran haematologist and specialist in clinical informatics was immediately convinced of the power of sharing electronic medical data.
For the past five years, Dr Gutteridge has been monitoring similar benefits in the expansion of SNOMED CT, the world’s most comprehensive computable language of health for use in electronic health records. Standing for “Systemised Nomenclature Of Medicine”, it has been nearly two decades in development, with specialist programmers and clinicians creating a vast dictionary of clinical vocabulary that stands to become the medical equivalent of Google’s codification of the English language.
Since forming in 2007, the company has been operating as a non-profit organisation to prioritise the strategic development of this system to meet the healthcare sector’s needs. Now, simply by entering a code in an electronic health record, a doctor can bring optimal care to a patient by accessing test reminders, academic resources and everything else available on this global research system. With more than 350,000 medical concepts available, it o ers an infinite amount of combinations to describe the human condition; which promises better health and improved patient outcomes.
Global healthcare language
The safe, accurate and e ective exchange of health information is an essential part of the foundation to improve healthcare around the world. SNOMED CT can be routinely integrated into healthcare information systems so users can record patient data more accurately and comprehensively – and use tools and analytics to provide better patient care and health management.
SNOMED CT has been developed collaboratively to ensure it meets the diverse needs and expectations of clinicians worldwide and is now accepted as a common global language for health terms. As the most comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world, it is a resource with comprehensive, scientifically validated clinical content. It enables consistent representation of clinical content in electronic health records and is mapped to other international standards.
The SNOMED CT clinical terminology has unmatched depth, enabling clinicians to record data with enhanced accuracy and consistency. SNOMED CT remains a growing and evolving product made better by the Community of Practice. It is currently used by 40 member nations, through a licensed model based on a country’s size and wealth. For the past two years, every GP and major hospital in Britain has had it embedded into their electronic systems, meaning that millions of UK patients are already reaping the benefits of having their records encoded.
For Dr Gutteridge, the biggest challenge has been persuading practitioners to change old habits and “to adopt digital health systems in place of writing with a gold pen”. But he hopes they will begin to add data and create an ever-expanding research system for global use.
The rewards for those who do will be increasingly advanced personal health records, new medical discoveries and information sharing with any health system in the world. “The more people participate,” says Dr Gutteridge, “the better it will be, and the more benefits for patients everywhere.”
Dr Charles Gutteridge Clinical Engagement Lead SNOMED CT
Contact Information
www.snomed.org
