SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms) is considered to be the most comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world.

 

Each year, avoidable deaths and injuries occur because of poor communication between healthcare practitioners. The delivery of a standard clinical language for use across the world's health information systems can therefore be a significant step towards improving the quality and safety of healthcare.

 

SNOMED CT aims to improve patient care through the development of systems to accurately record health care encounters. Ultimately, patients will benefit from the use of SNOMED CT, for building and facilitating communication and interoperability in electronic health data exchange.

 

SNOMED CT intellectual property rights were transferred to the SNOMED SDO® in the formal creation of the IHTSDO.

 

SNOMED CT was originally created by the College of American Pathologists by combining SNOMED RT and a computer based nomenclature and classification known as Clinical Terms Version 3, formerly known as Read Codes Version 3, which was created on behalf of the UK Department of Health and is Crown copyright.