The Classification of Life in SNOMED CT®

Photograph by Diliff (CC BY 2.5)

In this series, I am evaluating the SNOMED CT® terminology. SNOMED CT® includes a classification of organisms based on the Linnaeus Taxonomy. Thus it is possible to code species according to their phylum and class. There are 183 species of fish which are coded.

I did a quick search of medline on fish which returned 236,399 papers. Not all of these papers were relevant to illness in humans. There were a number of papers which included Fish as an author or referenced Fluorescent in-situ Hybridisation (FISH). A large number of other papers were from biology journals. There were a few areas related to human illness – contact dermatitis and zoonotic infectious diseases.

I could see the potential for describing the pets or other animals associated with a person. As examples, decision support tools could be developed which would flag alerts if a person is unexpectedly admitted to hospital or where the differential diagnosis for a presentation is modified accordingly.

Appendix A – Other Posts in the Series on Health Information Exchanges

A Literature Review of 40 years of SNOMED

Arizona Statewide Health Information Exchange

A History of The Health Information Exchange in Pennsylvania

The Arkansas Health Information Exchange – SHARE

The California Health Information Exchange – Cal Index

Creating a Health Information Exchange in Arizona

Health Information Exchanges

Health Information Exchanges and Chronic Conditions

HIPPA and Health Information Exchanges

ICD-11 and SNOMED CT®

ICD-SNOMED-CT® Harmonisation

Physical Objects in SNOMED CT®

ICD-1 – Well…near enough

ICD-2

ICD-3

ICD-4

ICD-5

ICD-6

ICD-7

ICD-8

ICD-9

ICD-10

ICD-11

Körner Data and SNOMED: A Snapshot from 1988

Mapping ICD 9 (or 10) to SNOMED CT®

Over 1 Million Relationships: SNOMED CT ®

SNOMED CT® International Browser

SNOMED CT® Utilises the Brodmann Area Classification for Brain Regions

The Insular Cortex and SNOMED CT®

Administrative Statuses in SNOMED CT®

Environment Descriptors in SNOMED CT®

Event Descriptors in SNOMED CT®

Generic Specifiers in SNOMED CT®

Physical Forces in SNOMED CT®

What’s a Kinkajou got to do with 21st Century Medical Terminology?

Standardisation of Health Information Technology in New Zealand

Statisticians were Responsible for the Development of an International Classification of Diseases

Why Do We Need Electronic Record Systems to Talk to Each Other

Appendix B – Definition of Health Information Exchange

This is the definition of the Health Information Exchange that I use (Hersh et al, 2015)

‘Health information exchange (HIE), the electronic sharing of clinical information across the boundaries of health care organizations‘

Index: There are indices for the TAWOP site here and here

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