Ownership of SNOMED CT® transferred to new international organisation

The newly-formed International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO®, also known as SNOMED SDO®) has acquired the intellectual property rights of SNOMED Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT®) and its antecedents from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for $7.8 million, marking a milestone in the international standardization of health data.

The new international organization is assuming responsibility for the ongoing maintenance, development, quality assurance, and distribution of SNOMED CT®. The CAP will continue to support SDO operations under an initial 3-year contract and will continue to provide SNOMED-related products and services as a licensee of the terminology.

"We are delighted with the initial success of this truly international undertaking," said Professor Martin Severs, IHTSDO® Management Board chair. "Making SNOMED CT available this way is an example of how global health cooperation can benefit health systems, services, and products around the world."

"As the international adoption and use of SNOMED CT® has grown, it has become apparent that an international governance structure that is open to the entire global healthcare community would be to everyone's benefit," said Thomas Sodeman, MD, FCAP, president of the College of American Pathologists. "The College is proud to have assisted in this important milestone."

When implemented in software applications, SNOMED CT® can be used to represent clinically relevant information consistently worldwide as an integral part of producing standardized electronic health records. With a history dating back to 1965, SNOMED CT® (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms) is considered to be the most comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world.

SNOMED CT® was formed in 1999 by the convergence of SNOMED Reference Terminology (SNOMED RT®) and the United Kingdom's Clinical Terms Version 3 (formerly known as the Read Codes). Use of SNOMED CT® can support more effective and efficient health care and prevention within individual countries while also supporting enhanced international public health and research activities.

About the IHTSDO®
The IHTSDO® is registered as a not-for-profit association within Denmark. Its Charter Members are organizations representing Australia, Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Membership is open to all countries, and there is a provision for sponsored use in developing countries. The IHTSDO® will establish formal harmonization activities with other organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), to promote effective interoperability between SNOMED CT® and other health data standards. A description of IHTSDO®'s principles and objectives, open and participatory governance process, and uniform licensing terms is at http://www.ihtsdo.org.

About the College of American Pathologists
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. CAP is an advocate for high-quality and cost-effective patient care. More information about CAP can be found at http://www.cap.org.

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