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Good information is essential for effective health and health care. The safe and appropriate exchange of clinical information is necessary in order to ensure continuity of care for patients across different times, settings, and providers. Today’s health information systems include functions to allow for collection of a variety of clinical information, linked to clinical knowledge bases, information retrieval, data aggregation, analyses, exchange, and other functions. SNOMED CT provides a standards-based foundation for these functions. Information systems can use the concepts, hierarchies, and relationships as a common reference point.

 

The use of SNOMED CT also goes beyond direct patient care. The terminology can, for instance, facilitate functions such as decision support, statistical reporting, outcomes measurement, public health surveillance, health research, and cost analysis.

 

To use SNOMED CT, you need an Affiliate License. An algorithm that describes how to obtain an Affiliate License is available here.

If you are based within an existing member nation of IHTSDO and wish to use SNOMED CT, you should simply contact your country's National Release Center (NRC). They will typically issue an Affiliate License to individuals and organizations within territory.

 

The NRC will be able to provide further details of how to access the International Release of SNOMED CT and will also inform you of any additional materials or conditions relevant for use within your country. IHTSDO has developed a flow chart on how to become an Affiliate Licensee in a Member country. 

 

The Affiliate License is a click-through license, and you’ll need to accept the conditions for use prior to accessing SNOMED CT. Most member countries will provide SNOMED CT free of charge to users, although some may charge a small fee for cost recovery.

 

Note: If you have an Affiliate License from another member country, it is a world-wide license, but there may be additional extensions or local modifications in other countries. As a result, we recommend that you contact the NRC. 

In the beginning of 2009, IHTSDO decided to make Affiliate Licenses for the use of SNOMED CT available to users in low income countries free of charge, as they are in IHTSDO Member countries. As a result, health care providers and others in the 49 countries categorized as low income economies by the World Bank have free access to SNOMED CT. Please apply online, using the "SNOMED CT Affiliate License Service Application" (SALSA). SALSA provides a mechanism for the IHTSDO to license and distribute SNOMED CT. IHTSDO has developed a flow chart on how to become an Affiliate Licensee in a Low Income Country.

 

Please note that IHTSDO offers exemptions from Affiliate License Fees for low income countries, qualifying research projects, qualifying humanitarian /charitable use, and developers of freely available open source software tools as part of the SNOMED CT Open Health Tools Charter Project. For details, please see this page. 

You will need an Affiliate License from IHTSDO to use SNOMED CT.

 

If you already have an Affiliate License from a Member Country, it is a world-wide license. The National Release Centre that issued your license will contact you every 6 months to ask about your use of SNOMED CT in non-member territories. IHTSDO will then invoice you for applicable license fees. IHTSDO has developed a flow chart on how to become an Affiliate Licensee outside a Member country and outside a Low Income Country.

 

If you do not already have an Affiliate License, please apply online, using the "SNOMED CT Affiliate License Service Application" (SALSA). SALSA provides a mechanism for the IHTSDO to license and distribute SNOMED CT. Note: Affiliate License holders may also grant sub-licenses to end users, such as hospitals or clinics, so that they can use products that incorporates SNOMED CT. Please see the Affiliate License for more detail. If you hold an Affiliate License, you will be contacted every 6 months to ask about your use of SNOMED CT in non-member territories. IHTSDO will then invoice you for applicable license fees.