London, United Kingdom, June 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SNOMED International and the National Health Information Center (NHIC) are pleased to announce that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently joined as the organization’s thirty-ninth Member.
The NHIC has been established pursuant to the Saudi royal decree no. 333 to be linked with health services and connected to an electronic network of health information with the Ministry of Health, medical services in the military bodies, university hospitals and other relevant government agencies. It is the vision of the Center to serve as the core axis of smart, safe and reliable digital information and healthcare services in the Kingdom and in doing so will provide, organize and exchange health information electronically among bodies of health sectors and other relevant bodies.
Through Membership in SNOMED International, the Kingdom and NHIC have committed support for structured terminology to address national tasks to standardize clinical terminology, names and definitions used in all health information systems and methods of collection. With the Kingdom’s strategic aims to support transformation of electronic healthcare services along with facilitating the circulation of health data and information electronically safely, SNOMED CT is a valuable tool to be used throughout the country.
SNOMED CT is the world’s most comprehensive health terminology. Founded in 2007 by nine charter nations, SNOMED International is a not-for-profit, member-owned and driven international organization. The addition of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has grown the organization’s Membership to thirty-nine countries and territories across five continents and enables management and use SNOMED CT and other related products. Membership also extends to participation on the General Assembly, a critical governance role which includes responsibility for approval of the organization's budget and strategy.
“The Kingdom’s Membership in SNOMED International will extend the footprint of clinical terminology in place in hospital and health information systems within Saudi Arabia. In line with the launch of the Kingdom’s healthcare transformation strategy and Saudi’s 2030 Vision, investment in digital health infrastructure such as clinical terminology standards will contribute to accomplishing these goals” says SNOMED International CEO, Don Sweete.
“SNOMED CT is internationally recognized as a powerful terminology for healthcare. Through our Membership in SNOMED International we are certain we can increase patient safety in the kingdom by eliminating errors occurring due to misinterpreted data, while fulfilling our National E- Health Strategy aligned with the Kingdom’s healthcare transformation strategy and 2030 Vision” says the NHIC’s General Director.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes the third country within the Middle East region to join SNOMED International, further extending the SNOMED CT use, implementation experience and collaboration opportunities for the area.
To learn more about the National Health Information Center visit https://nhic.gov.sa/en/Pages/default.aspx.
To learn more about SNOMED International and SNOMED CT, visit www.snomed.org.
About SNOMED International:
SNOMED International is a not-for-profit organization that owns and develops SNOMED CT, the world's most comprehensive healthcare terminology product. We play an essential role in improving the health of humankind by determining standards for a codified language that represents groups of clinical terms. This enables healthcare information to be exchanged globally for the benefit of patients and other stakeholders. We are committed to the rigorous evolution of our products and services, to deliver continuous innovation for the global healthcare community. SNOMED International is the trading name of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO.)
About the National Health Information Center:
The National Health Information Center (NHIC) has been given the mandate to further digital health and information technology across healthcare sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The NHIC will provide a number of digital health and informatics services. The main objective of NHIC is to contribute to healthcare, and the public health in the kingdom through technology and standards. The NHIC acts as a healthcare hub of digital connectivity, identifies and standardizes health data, build an EHR to ensure national interoperability, adopt and facilitate international coding system and classification standards, contribute to research and statistics, etc. which follows the mandate listed in Saudi royal decree no. 333. The NHIC is responsible for distributing and managing SNOMED CT in Saudi Arabia, while also developing and maintaining its content to meet Saudi Arabian Requirements.
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