The Netherlands' Update April 2009

National activities

In 2008, a national project team worked on creating awareness of SNOMED CT and making it available in the Netherlands. Members of this project team are representatives of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The National IT Institute for Healthcare (Nictiz), the department of Medical Informatics at the University of Amsterdam and the Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy.

Over the last twelve months, the project team focused on creating awareness on the significance of “unity of language,” on SNOMED CT and the use of medical terminology. Eight master classes were organized. The participants included health professionals and IT professionals, as well as vendors and administrators. Meetings with the IT industry were organized to provide information about SNOMED CT and to discuss the possibilities of integrating SNOMED CT into their health care information systems.

Implementation plans and other activities

A Call for Pilots, to evaluate the practical use of SNOMED CT, generated eighteen proposals. Two pilot projects are already selected:

• The development of a digital form that can be used in the ear, nose and throat polyclinic. This form uses SNOMED CT under the surface, for registration in an EHR system.

• The mapping of a Subset from a register of medical activities. The subset consists of 300 to 400 medical activities.

We have planned the selection of a third pilot in the beginning of 2009. The results of these pilots will  become publicly available, and form the input for further implementation strategies.

At this moment, the Netherlands do not have the ambition to translate SNOMED CT concepts.The idea is that the translation of concepts can follow a stepwise implementation approach, if necessary. Mappings will be made of existing Dutch code systems.

Affiliate activities

The current use of SNOMED CT in the Netherlands has been investigated in a case study to serve as base measurement for the further development of SNOMED CT. Several organizations have shown interest in a license.



About IHTSDOSNOMED CTJoin UsNewsProjectsPublicationsMembersContact UsHome
Search Print FAQ
Australia Canada Cyprus Denmark Estonia Iceland Lithuania Malta New Zealand Poland Singapore Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden The Netherlands 2010 Update 2009 Update 2008 Update 2007 Update United Kingdom United States	The Netherlands' Update April 2009 National activities In 2008, a national project team worked on creating awareness of SNOMED CT and making it available in the Netherlands. Members of this project team are representatives of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The National IT Institute for Healthcare (Nictiz), the department of Medical Informatics at the University of Amsterdam and the Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy. Over the last twelve months, the project team focused on creating awareness on the significance of “unity of language,” on SNOMED CT and the use of medical terminology. Eight master classes were organized. The participants included health professionals and IT professionals, as well as vendors and administrators. Meetings with the IT industry were organized to provide information about SNOMED CT and to discuss the possibilities of integrating SNOMED CT into their health care information systems. Implementation plans and other activities A Call for Pilots, to evaluate the practical use of SNOMED CT, generated eighteen proposals. Two pilot projects are already selected: • The development of a digital form that can be used in the ear, nose and throat polyclinic. This form uses SNOMED CT under the surface, for registration in an EHR system. • The mapping of a Subset from a register of medical activities. The subset consists of 300 to 400 medical activities. We have planned the selection of a third pilot in the beginning of 2009. The results of these pilots will  become publicly available, and form the input for further implementation strategies. At this moment, the Netherlands do not have the ambition to translate SNOMED CT concepts.The idea is that the translation of concepts can follow a stepwise implementation approach, if necessary. Mappings will be made of existing Dutch code systems. Affiliate activities The current use of SNOMED CT in the Netherlands has been investigated in a case study to serve as base measurement for the further development of SNOMED CT. Several organizations have shown interest in a license.