Over the past year, SNOMED International has established a clinical regional network focused on Spanish-speakers in Latin America.

The network continues to build on the SNOMED International offerings currently available in Spanish, including the SNOMED CT International Edition in Spanish, which is released twice a year; the SNOMED CT Foundation course in Spanish (Curso de Fundamentos de SNOMED CT); and a Confluence space for Spanish-speaking SNOMED CT users.

The purpose of the network is to equip clinicians and other SNOMED CT users in Latin American non-SNOMED International Member countries with basic knowledge of the clinical terminology and the benefits it offers to patients, providers, and other stakeholders. It also functions as a forum for sharing experiences and for community support to resolve common questions and challenges. The discussions and real-world use cases shared in this network are valuable input for the further development of the terminology.

The network is headed by three SNOMED International team members: Customer Relations Lead Europe and Global Clinical Engagement Business Manager Ian Green; Senior Implementation Specialist Alejandro Lopez Osornio; and Surgical Terminologist Victor Medina. 

To date, the group has hosted three webinars, each of which focused on SNOMED CT implementations in Latin American Member countries Chile, Argentina and El Salvador, with plans to provide regular, quarterly webinars in the future. The recordings are available on the Latin American Regional Clinical Network playlist on our YouTube channel.

In this Q&A, Ian Green, Alejandro Lopez Osornio and Victor Medina discuss the goal of the clinical network, why it’s an excellent opportunity for those living in non-SNOMED CT Member countries to learn about SNOMED CT and why Latin American clinicians and those working on digital health/health informatics initiatives should consider attending the sessions and participating in the group.

Q1: Why did SNOMED International create a Spanish-language clinical network and what is the goal? What does it mean to participate in a clinical network? 

A: Engaging with clinicians is fundamental to ensuring that the SNOMED CT product is, and continues to be, fit to support clinical practice. In view of the scope of SNOMED CT we rely on input from clinicians and clinical groups globally to provide clinical expertise to ensure that SNOMED CT is fit for purpose to support healthcare clinicians globally. This principle applies to the worldwide clinical community and since the Latin American community’s native language is mostly Spanish, we considered the creation of the Latin American network a positive opportunity for the Spanish-speaking community to more easily collaborate on the quality of SNOMED CT with their knowledge and skills. We receive input from clinicians in varied formats from individual change requests, to more formalized groups in the form of clinical reference groups and clinical networks. 

Q2: What are the most pressing topics and issues? What drives the presentation and selection of those discussion topics? What kinds of questions are people asking and what do people most want to hear about?

A: There are currently four SNOMED International Member countries from Latin America but there is mounting regional awareness of the need for clinical interoperability as digital transformation of health becomes a priority for most of the region’s health systems. 

At the same time, there is a growing interest in SNOMED CT in the region, leading to the need for knowledge of specifications, the implementation process, membership and licensing, and challenges to and the benefits of adopting SNOMED CT. 

So far, we have invited three organizations from Member countries to talk about the implementation and adoption of SNOMED CT and how the terminology is helping clinicians and related personnel to better register clinical information and use it for data analysis and other secondary usages such as research, academics and decision-making.

The webinars have presented the experiences of those Latin American Member countries implementing and adopting SNOMED CT, mostly from the clinical perspective, but also ensuring that technical issues were explored to ensure relevance for non-clinical attendees.

Questions from the attendees so far have been related to the implications of becoming a Member country, the different types of licences available and how they can be acquired, the benefits of adopting SNOMED CT, how clinicians can collaborate with SNOMED International, and how SNOMED CT can help their organizations deliver better patient care.

Q3: The focus of these sessions is clinical, but as previously noted, the audience may be broader and include non-clinicians working on digital health initiatives. How do you ensure the content is relevant for a broad audience?

A: We ensure to include experiences from clinical and non-clinical personnel in the sessions and presentations and to broaden the scope of the presentations to ensure they are appropriate for both clinical and technical audiences. 

Q4: Who would benefit from participating?  What kind of participation have you seen so far and from what regions? 

A: Everyone involved with digital transformation of health would benefit by learning about SNOMED CT and SNOMED International. The Latin American clinical regional network is useful for anyone  in Latin America who is working with e-health applications and solutions implementation, or is interested in learning about interoperability standards, semantic interoperability, implementation, and adoption and use of SNOMED CT. This includes technical or clinical personnel from Member and non-Member countries of SNOMED International.

Q5: Is SNOMED International working formally or informally with any other Latin American digital health organizations and how could that impact the clinical network?

A: There are many digital health organizations in the region interested in the benefits of SNOMED CT. Currently SNOMED International is actively communicating with the Latin American and Caribbean digital health network RACSEL;  RECAINSA, a non-profit organization that supports national digital health strategies in Latin America; HL7 LATAM affiliates; Mexican and Colombian healthtech associations; and health applications developers across the region. Some of those organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SNOMED International.

Q6: Are there any plans to create more spaces and opportunities for the participants in this network to interact and communicate, apart from the webinars?

A: We are exploring various options. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Q7: Where can people get more information about this network or suggest discussion topics?

A: For more information on the Spanish-language clinical network, visit the Latin American Clinical Network Confluence page. Please note you will need to register to access the page.

Q8: To summarize, what are the three most important takeaways from this article you want readers to remember?

A: The most important takeaways are as follows: 1. It is now easier to participate in the SNOMED International clinical and technical digital health community in Spanish through the LATAM regional clinical network. 2. The network is an opportunity for those interested in SNOMED CT in LATAM to actively participate in the development and improvement of SNOMED CT. 3. SNOMED International is open to listening to and collaborating with the LATAM community.

For more information, contact us at info@snomed.org.