CSIRO develops software solution for NEHTA to assist in SNOMED CT-AU uptake

11 May 2010. CSIRO researchers at the Australian E-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) have developed a software tool, Snapper™, for the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) designed to assist the healthcare sector adopt SNOMED CT-AU*. SNOMED CT-AU is considered the most comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world and the preferred terminology for Australia.

“The way patient clinical information is captured and shared by healthcare providers is vital to improving the quality and safety of healthcare delivery and is fundamental to the success of e-health in Australia,” said NEHTA Chief Terminologist Paul Frosdick.
 
“A standard clinical terminology such as SNOMED CT-AU enables the terms used as part of clinical communications to be clearly recorded and interpreted and gives healthcare providers and developers of e-health applications a common language to ensure consistency and clarity in information that is exchanged.” 
 
However, one of the problems facing users is how to ‘translate’ existing records to contain standard terminology from SNOMED CT- AU.
 
Snapper™ helps overcome this by providing an easy to use tool to browse, edit and create specially categorised sets of SNOMED terms for use in specific clinical settings.
A key benefit of the tool will be to ease the process of converting the existing descriptions of patient symptoms, treatments and outcomes used in electronic health records. This in turn will speed the transition to a standard terminology in Australia.
 
“Innovative tools such as Snapper™ are needed to simplify the transition to a standardised e-health environment in Australia. Using standard concepts and terms in electronic health records will help improve the quality of the data and improve patient safety and deliver of quality healthcare,” said Mr Frosdick.
 
The work AEHRC have done is an example of the collaborative effort required to achieve widespread e-health take-up in Australia.
 
“Our work on customising Snapper™ to fulfill NEHTA’s requirements shows that AEHRC research is making a significant impact on the national e-health agenda,” said CSIRO’s Dr Michael Lawley, the leader of the AEHRC team which developed Snapper.
 
“Snapper’s user friendly interface will help health information managers and clinicians quickly locate the correct clinical term.”
 
Existing SNOMED CT-AU users or those enquiring about the product can contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
For more information about Snapper™ see http://aehrc.com/snapper/ or contact David Hansen at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
ENDS
 
For more information contact Alison Sweeney, NEHTA Media Coordinator 02 8298 2669 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
About CSIRO
CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world with more than 50 sites throughout Australia and overseas.
The AEHRC is a joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland Government and is a leading national research facility in ICT for healthcare innovations.

 

 

* This material includes SNOMED Clinical Terms® (SNOMED CT®) which is used by permission of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO®). All rights reserved. SNOMED CT was originally created by The College of American Pathologists. IHTSDO®, SNOMED® and SNOMED CT® are registered trademarks of the IHTSDO.