NEHTA secures international health terminology for Australia
26 April, 2007. NEHTA announces that it has become, on behalf of Australia, a Charter Member of the newly established International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (the IHTSDO).
This announcement follows the successful culmination of extensive international negotiations. As a Member of the IHTSDO, NEHTA will be responsible for distributing and managing SNOMED CT in Australia, and will develop and maintain content specific to Australia.
The establishment of the IHTSDO, with NEHTA's membership, means that software developers within Australia now have guaranteed free and ongoing access to SNOMED Clinical Terms for use in their products. SNOMED (Systemised Nomenclature of Medicine) Clinical Terms provides a common language for healthcare workers and researchers within Australia and internationally, allowing them to communicate electronically using standard terms to describe diagnoses, procedures, therapies, etc.
“With the increasing complexity and intensity of health care, and an ageing population with a rising number of medical problems, and doctors and health institutions visited - per individual, there is no choice but for doctors to communicate more effectively with each other using electronic means," explains Dr Ian Reinecke, Chief Executive of NEHTA.
“But it's not as simple as sending clinical documents via email. Because information about the patient needs to go into the hospital or the doctor's records, it has to be automatically understood by the computer and if every doctor and their computer use different terms to describe their diagnoses, tests, treatments and medicines, this can't be done. Without all computers in Australian healthcare using a single clinical language, the promise of electronic health communication can't be fulfilled on a national scale," argues Dr Reinecke.
The formation of the IHTSDO means that Australia has a single clinical language that is openly available, and will be developed and managed over the long term to ensure it is kept up-to-date and meets Australia's clinical needs.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Information Industry Association, Ms Sheryle Moon, welcomes the announcement. “The creation of the IHTSDO provides the health information industry with the fundamental conditions they need to allow them to adopt SNOMED CT a comprehensive, quality assured terminology, without the burden of developing, maintaining and adapting it to local requirements; provided under arrangements that give certainty about its ongoing availability for use; and at no cost to their customers," said Ms Moon. “The AIIA looks forward to working with NEHTA to progress the implementation of SNOMED within Australia."
Alongside Australia, other Member countries of the IHTSDO include Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
“International collaboration such as this is of immense strategic significance to e-health in Australia. The magnitude of the global healthcare market reinforces the importance of ensuring that Australia is closely aligned with international developments," notes Dr Reinecke.
“We know that strategic investments in improving electronic health communication in Australia have the potential to reap significant benefits. But realising these benefits relies on the creation of essential foundations such as establishing a common clinical language," said Dr Reinecke.
A printer-friendly version of this release, with further background information, can be found 
here 41.38 Kb.
An accompanying media release from the College of American Pathologists, previous owners of SNOMED CT, and the IHTSDO can be found here 28.82 Kb.