SNOMED

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2015), there will be incurred penalties if healthcare organizations and physician practices have not attested to Stage 2 of Meaningful Use. Stage 1 focused on the establishment of an electronic medical record (EMR), while Stage 2 involves reporting of the data obtained. Many people are familiar with the terms ICD-9 or ICD-10 as codes that translate problems or diagnosis into codes that are reported and thereby generate revenue. SNOMED stands for Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine, and was developed in 1965 (Levy, 2013), to convert medical complaints into a common language shared by all of the various EMR's. To simplify, it is how the differing computer systems talk to each other. By utilizing SNOMED a patient's medical history and allergies, for example, can now be transmitted to all hospital and outpatient electronic record systems.  The SNOMED system is available for free at the National Library of Medicine (Ware, 2013), and should already be embedded into the EMR systems that have been newly implemented at each medical facility. The actual code conversion is done without the user ever knowing it. It is a discreet function and requires nothing extra from medical personnel in order for it to happen (Ware, 2013). Though it may serve as another hurdle for healthcare organizations to overcome, the SNOMED system promotes the portability of the patient's entire list of complaints and history of procedures to follow them wherever they go. This progressive idea of a universal medical nomenclature has become an integral step in the journey to increased healthcare quality and efficiency.

Develop your own sample SNOMED complaint code

Automated Coding and Productivity

 

 Mobile Software Product 

 

 

Data Sets

 

 

References

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/ReportingCQMsin2015.html

Levy, B. (2013). Achieve compliance with SNOMED CT. Health Management Technology, 34(4), 21.

Ware, E. (2013). SNOMED: What it is and why it was added to stage 2 meaningful use. Health Language. Retrieved from http://blog.healthlanguage.com/SNOMED-What-it-is-and-Why-it-was-Added-to-Stage-2-Meaningful-Use