Cerner and SNOMED Enhance the Sharing of Global Electronic Health Information

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has signed a five-year agreement with Cerner Corporation licensing SNOMED Clinical Terms(R) (SNOMED CT(R)) Core Content for unlimited global distribution. SNOMED CT is the core clinical terminology within the Cerner Controlled Medical Terminology(TM) (Cerner CMT(TM)) knowledge infrastructure for Cerner Millennium(R) healthcare information technology solutions.

SNOMED CT is a core terminology comprised of clinical concepts, terms and relationships that helps accurately represent clinical information across the continuum of healthcare. SNOMED CT’s scientifically validated clinical terminology makes healthcare knowledge more usable and accessible. Its more than 957,000 English language descriptions or synonyms offer flexibility in
expressing clinical concepts, enabling clinicians to say things in multiple ways and still be understood.

As an example, Goodpasture’s Syndrome, Lung Purpura with Nephritis and Pulmonary Renal Syndrome are different terms for the same clinical condition. With a SNOMED CT-driven electronic medical record such as Cerner Millennium, multiple synonyms such as these are translated into a single clinical concept. This enables clinicians to consistently capture, share, and aggregate health data across specialties and sites of care, making retrieval more efficient, reliable and consistent. With SNOMED CT as its core clinical terminology, Cerner CMT improves clinical documentation, ensures the correct diagnosis is captured for billing, and lays the foundation for knowledge-driven care by enabling accurate clinical performance improvement reporting and analysis.

As a leading healthcare information technology supplier to the global healthcare marketplace, Cerner continues to be a driving force in advancing healthcare integration and the shape of standards initiatives. In 2003, Cerner became the first healthcare technology supplier to deploy SNOMED CT within its electronic medical record. This decision was affirmed in 2003, when the CAP signed an historic agreement with the National Library of Medicine, making SNOMED CT Core Content freely available for use in the U.S. Also in 2003, the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics recommended SNOMED CT to Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as the patient medical record information terminology standard.  Recognizing that broad adherence to clinical terminology standards will reduce care variance and improve healthcare quality, patient safety and outcomes management, Cerner is now the first organization who has invested in global distribution of
SNOMED CT for its clients around the world.

“As a company committed to transforming healthcare across the globe, Cerner is a strong advocate for clinical data standards to ensure data interoperability, comparability and quality,” said Paul N. Gorup, co-founder and senior vice president of Cerner Corporation. “Only data structured and codified in a meaningful way via an accepted, standardized healthcare
terminology such as SNOMED CT can provide the foundation for effective information management, decision-support, and clinical outcomes measurement and improvement,” continued Gorup. “We hope this strategic commitment with CAP furthers the adoption of SNOMED CT as the core clinical terminology in the lobal marketplace.”

“Multinational software suppliers like Cerner will play an increasingly major role in creating value by implementing terminology standards,” says Franklin R. Elevitch, M.D., Chair, SNOMED International Authority.  “As healthcare organizations and governments worldwide assess the infrastructure requirements, the choice of a terminology standard will have a profound impact
on system interoperability, comparability of data, computerized order entry, workflow and decision support.  Through this agreement, SNOMED CT brings value to Cerner’s clients around the world,” he added.

Cerner Corporation is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than 1,500 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of healthcare information technology. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner Controlled Medical Terminology, Cerner CMT, Cerner Millennium, Cerner’s logo. www.cerner.com  

The College of American Pathologists is a not-for-profit medical society serving nearly 16,000 physician members and the laboratory community throughout the world.  It is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance.  The CAP is an advocate for high quality and cost-effective
patient care. The College is located on the World Wide Web at www.cap.org

SNOMED International, a division of the College of American Pathologists, is committed to the excellence of patient care through the delivery of a dynamic and sustainable scientifically validated healthcare terminology and infrastructure that enables clinicians, researchers and patients to share health care knowledge worldwide, across clinical specialties and sites of
care.  SNOMED International is located on the World Wide Web at www.snomed.org  

SOURCE College of American Pathologists