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HL7 International

HL7 International

Standards Partner

In July 2019, Health Level Seven® Inc. and SNOMED International announced another 2 year collaboration agreement, building on previous agreements in 2009, 2014 and 2016. The agreement again is aimed at improving interoperability, thus focusing on the adoption of working practices that facilitate the use of SNOMED CT with HL7 standards globally. As previously, both organisations are working towards avoiding duplication of effort and resolving issues related to gaps and overlaps.


The agreement recently renewed in 2021, target activities have been planned up to July 2023, at which point a review of delivered work products and upcoming activities will be undertaken.

Additional information

The focus of the collaboration for both organizations, includes:


  • License statement for use of SNOMED CT within HL7 International products.

  • Discussion of SNOMED CT development licences for HL7 Affiliates from non SNOMED International Member countries. SNOMED CT Development Licences have previously been issued to HL7 France and HL7 Austria.

  • Use of the SNOMED CT HL7 Free Set for use in HL7's International Patient Summary (IPS.)

  • Process in place governing the review, updates and change requests for HL7 products with SNOMED International.

  • Scope of the SNOMED on FHIR working group includes defining best practices for the use of SNOMED CT with HL7’s FHIR implementations globally with the goal of also issuing implementation guidance.


The agreement renewed in 2021, target activities have been planned up to July 2023, at which point a review of delivered work products and upcoming activities will be undertaken. The focus of this first stage of work includes licensing arrangements, change requests and terminology binding for the use of SNOMED CT in HL7 products, maintenance and updates to the HL7 IPS Free Set, and promoting the use of SNOMED CT and FHIR in international use cases. Additional activities will support technical collaborative efforts at HL7 FHIR Connectathon events and prospective educational opportunities put forward by either organization. Extending across the length of the agreement is a joint openness to actively identify further joint working opportunities.


The HL7 SNOMED CT Free Set is available as part of SNOMED International's Global Patient Set and IPS Terminology. The GPS is a managed collection of existing reference sets, available to any user at no cost.  The GPS offers clinical content across dentistry, renal, family & general practice and nursing areas, and includes IHE, DICOM and HL7 International Patient Summary (IPS) domains and activities.The IPS Terminology is a subontology of the SNOMED CT terminology based on IPS content. This resource provides implementers with an open product that can be used to harness the power of SNOMED CT through its query language and hierarchies for that are within the scope of the IPS.


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