SNOMED CT-AU and Australian Medicines Terminology July 2019 Release

The National Clinical Terminology Service (NCTS) is pleased to announce that the July combined release of SNOMED CT® AU¹ and the Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) is now available to registered users from the NCTS website.

The Release Note is provided alongside the combined RF2 release files which are available as Full, Snapshot and Delta, in addition to the traditional combined release bundle (labelled "ALL"). To access the Release Note and download the RF2 files, select SNOMED CT-AU > Release Bundles from the ACCESS tab.

The reference sets are available in TSV format (containing pre-computed values for concept IDs, Fully Specified Name, Preferred Term and Synonym description only) and as HL7™FHIR® standard² value sets (which may also be obtained via the integration interface of the National Terminology Server). To download the reference sets, select SNOMED CT-AU > Reference Sets from the ACCESS tab.

Important Information

Quick Tips

Each month we will be providing you with a new quick tip on the use of our products or navigating our website and documents with a link to further information (where applicable). If you have a suggestion for a tip, please let us know using the feedback details below.

Synonyms in SNOMED CT-AU

SNOMED CT-AU (including the AMT) has a description type called "acceptable synonyms" that allow for alternative ways to describe a particular concept. For example, the concept Myocardial infarction (disorder) has a Preferred Term of Myocardial infarction as well as the following additional acceptable synonyms - "Cardiac infarction", "Heart attack", "Infarction of heart", "MI – myocardial infarction", and "Myocardial infarct".

In the AMT some medicines may be known with different spellings (or even different names) such as the Medicinal Products amoxicillin and colecalciferal which have the acceptable synonyms of amoxycillin and cholecalciferol respectively.

In the AMT some medicines may be known with different spellings (or even different names) such as the Medicinal Products amoxicillin and colecalciferal which have the acceptable synonyms of amoxycillin and cholecalciferol respectively.

Acceptable synonyms can be implemented together with the Preferred Term in a product’s search function, to assist users who may search for a particular concept in different ways. Section 8.1 of the SNOMED CT-AU Australian Technical Implementation Guide provides some helpful information on this topic and the SNOMED International Search and Data Entry Guide has extensive information on the searching and recording of terms and codes in a record.

Synonyms for existing terms can be requested by users by completing the online content request form.

Education Sessions

Webinars

The NCTS plans to schedule further live webinars throughout 2019; all licence holders will be notified when these dates are made available. If you would like to register an expression of interest or request a specific topic, please contact us using the feedback details below.

Please also visit the webinars section in the Document Library to view the existing pre-recorded webinars.

Where can I find technical guides and other resources?

All SNOMED CT AU and AMT documentation, including technical and implementation guides, is freely available for download from the NCTS Document Library without registering or logging in. However, if you are a registered user we recommend that you log in before downloading any material so that we can better target our communications to you, based on the resources that you have downloaded.

Terminology browsers

Shrimp³ is available online at http://ontoserver.csiro.au/shrimp. Search both SNOMED CT AU and AMT content, or browse the hierarchies by selecting the latest version of “SNOMED Clinical Terms Australian Extension” in the drop-down menu.

Feedback

Development by the NCTS relies on the input and cooperation of the Australian healthcare community. We value your feedback and encourage questions, comments, or suggestions about our products. You can contact us by completing the online support request form, via email [email protected], or call 1300 901 001.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,
NCTS

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1. "SNOMED" and "SNOMED CT" are registered trademarks of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO).
2. FHIR is a registered trademark of Health Level Seven International.
3. Shrimp was developed by the Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC).