Snomed CT implementation. Mapping guidelines facilitating reuse of data

Clinical practice as well as research and quality-assurance benefit from unambiguous clinical information resulting from the use of a common terminology like the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). A common terminology is a necessity to enable consistent reuse of data, and supporting semantic interoperability. Managing use of terminology for large cross specialty Electronic Health Record systems (EHR systems) or just beyond the level of single EHR systems requires that mappings are kept consistent. The objective of this study is to provide a clear methodology for SNOMED CT mapping to enhance applicability of SNOMED CT despite incompleteness and redundancy. Such mapping guidelines are presented based on an in depth analysis of 14 different EHR templates retrieved from five Danish and Swedish EHR systems. Each mapping is assessed against defined quality criteria and mapping guidelines are specified. Future work will include guideline validation.