The table below provides a summary of the most important criteria to validate prior to submitting your request for change (RFC) to Infoway.Note that if your RFC is submitted to SNOMED International, compliance to the following criteria will also be mandatory:
- Provide Clear Justification for Requesting a Change or New Concept: All requests (International or National) must be supported by a clear justification for the reason for change. It helps with understanding the nature and context of the requirement and it aids in assessing the risks and benefits that are associated with making the change.
- Provide a Reference: All requests must be supported by at least one reference. The supporting information must be recent and from an authoritative source such as a scientific or professional journal or a professional society.
- Provide a Definition: This is required for new concepts being requested. It is provided in the form of a narrative explanation that defines the exact nature of the request. Unambiguous definitions are especially important where the request is for an obscure disease or a new procedure or is unusual in its nature. Restating the requested descriptions is often not considered sufficient as a definition.
- Provide the implementation date: This will define the next steps for creation of content in the Canadian Edition or direct submission to SNOMED International.
Before submitting a request for change (RFC) | Guidance |
Check duplicates of submitted RFCs | |
| Search not only for the exact term but try different words or word combinations that may express the same clinical idea. |
| Search not only for the exact term but try different words or word combinations that may express the same clinical idea. |
| If a concept has been INACTIVATED, it should not be used. To determine the replacement concept, on the SNOMED International Browser, search for the inactivated concept, select the "Refset" Tab and validate the associated concept which can in most cases be the replacement concept candidate. |
Find the proper Parent |
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| Determine the correct hierarchy the content is part of, based on the context of use. The requested concept must be part of the same top level hierarchy as the parent. |
Include a Reference & Supporting documents |
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| Valid references are required for new content. All reference material must be publicly available, recent and authoritative. Wikis are not recognized as authoritative. Provide the use case: how and where content will be used. |
Include French translations (if required) |
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| If a translated term is required, you may provide the term with the appropriate supporting information, or a request can be submitted for "New description" if translation of existing concept is required. Note that in both use cases, it is important that the requests must comply to the French Editorial Guidelines. |
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Validate compliance to Editorial Guidelines | Guidance |
SNOMED International + Generic Canadian Editorial Guidelines | |
| Refer to SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Abbreviations (and Acronyms) |
| Omit the inclusion of grammatical articles like “an” and “the” |
| Capitalize the first word in each description or capitalize proper nouns, adjectives derived from proper nouns, and acronyms. Other words in the description should be lower case. The following is an EXAMPLE of the INCORRECT USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS: Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoids and Acellular pertussis (product) Refer to SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Capitalization |
| Use the full description in the FSN. One of the synonyms (syn) will not include an apostrophe or final "s" (E.g.: Down syndrome). PS or syn will include the apostrophe "s". * Descriptions should have one with apostrophe "s" AND one without * If one is missing, add it. This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Eponyms |
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| Must not be used. Existing terms containing past tense verbs will be moved to the situation hierarchy. This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Past tense verbal forms and sentence function types |
| The use of plural is to be avoided. Use singular. Exceptions: "grouper" concepts may have a synonym that is plural. This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Plurals |
| Use one space in front of an opening parenthesis and after a closing parenthesis, but not within parentheses |
| The action word describing the clinical action is the verbal noun ending in "-ion" rather than "-ing". EXAMPLE: Incision rather than Incising This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Verbal nouns |
| Not to be used. To be replaced by ‘and’. This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Special characters |
| No space between the apostrophe and the s, where applicable. For Eponyms, refer to 'Eponym' This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Apostrophes |
| This is used as a pair of symbols to enclose character strings that properly should be displayed as superscript. Single caret symbols are not allowed. Note that no spaces are allowed in between the symbols. EXAMPLE: Technetium Tc^99c^ medronate (substance) This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Caret symbols (^) |
| To separate acronyms from the rest of a name: There is no space between the acronym and the colon, but a space must be added after the colon.
NOTE: In French, there is a space before and after the ( : ) There is no space before or after a ratio. EXAMPLE: lidocaine hydrochloride 1.5%/epinephrine 1:200,000 injection solution vial (product) This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Colons |
| Avoid usage as much as possible. Use the punctuation mark”:” to separate two phrases or names, to contrast values, to show a relationship between two things, or to separate ranges of values. Spaces are required before and after the dash. EXAMPLES: This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Hyphens and dashes |
| The hyphen is used to join words and to separate syllables. There should be no space either before or after the hyphen. Note that more and more words are written without the hyphen. EXAMPLES: This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Hyphens and dashes |
| Not to be used. The 'assumed' meaning behind this symbol may vary: may mean a ‘or', a 'and/or' and sometimes is part of an expression's abbreviation (O/E). Writing the whole term without the slash confirms it’s meaning without confusion or ambiguity. This symbol may be found in acronyms with findings concepts. No space either before or after the slash. EXAMPLES: This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Forward slashes |
| Insert a space before and after the sign when unifies two words. For combination drug products. EXAMPLE: diphtheria + tetanus vaccine. This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Plus signs |
FSN specific |
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| The description ends with a parenthesis that includes the hierarchy tag, to be unique. EXAMPLE: gout (disorder) |
| If different spelling is possible that could represent a US spelling or a UK spelling, the preference will be to represent the term in the US dialect. |
| Use the singular form unless the concept necessarily involves multiples. EXAMPLE: multiple lumps (finding) or function of specific cranial nerves (observable entity) |
| Use full description as the FSN, and the eponymous term as a synonym. EXAMPLE: 'Moro reflex' should be a synonym of FSN: “infant startle reflex” |
| The dash must be replaced with words that clarify the meaning. |
| Exceptions: allowed in the FSNs of organisms, substances, or products where the colon is a proper part of the name such as in ratios and in tumor stages. |
| Exceptions: A forward slash may be used for representing units of measure, as required in the pharmaceutical products hierarchy, and in laboratory test results and units of measure hierarchies. There should be no space either before or after the slash. |
| All acronyms are banned from FSNs description must be expanded. See the SNOMED CT Editorial Guideline. |
| Abbreviations are prohibited in FSNs and synonyms, with specified exceptions. See the SNOMED CT Editorial Guideline. Terms containing abbreviations will not be accepted into the International Release. |
Hierarchy specific | Refer to SNOMED International Editorial Guide per Hierarchy, for those not listed below |
| Many concepts and descriptions have been created in the CA Edition. These concepts are part of the Procedure hierarchy. Refer to this document for Canadian specific guidelines: Canadian Edition Editorial Guidelines for Clinical Imaging Procedures This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Clinical Imaging Procedure Naming Conventions |
| Many concepts and descriptions have been created in the CA Edition. (antigens and immunoglobulins) For Immunization, refer to the Immunization content development - Canadian Editorial Guidelines This topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Naming conventions for antibodies and antigens - Under review Naming conventions for antivenom - Under review |
| Many concepts and descriptions have been created in the CA Edition. (vaccines products) For Immunization, refer to the Immunization content development - Canadian Editorial Guidelines Although this topic is covered in SNOMED International Editorial Guidelines, it does not follow the SNOMED International guide: Under review |
| To ensure RFC’s are created that align with SNOMED International Guidelines, implementers should refer to this document: Microbiology Content Development – Canadian Editorial Guidelines SNOMED CT on InfoScribe. Implementers should also be familiar with all of the SNOMED International Guidelines. Some of the guidelines that are documented in the Canadian Microbiology Guidelines document are also covered in the SNOMED International Editorial Guide: Observable Entity and Microbiology Test Results and Organism Naming Conventions |
| There are no guidance on this topic in SNOMED International Editorial Guidelines. Occupations in healthcare are often specific to jurisdictions, although there is a National Occupational Classification published by Government of Canada that provides the "generic" occupations that are available in Canada. RFCs related with the occupation submitted by the jurisdictions must come from the authoritative sources like Colleges or Associations ( e.g. CPSO, CNO) National Occupational Classification (NOC) : http://noc.esdc.gc.ca/English/NOC/welcome.aspx?ver=16 CIHI(Canadian Institute for Health Information) - Health Workforce : https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-workforce Alternative references to recognized Public School (University, College, Cegep) can be provided as supporting documentation. |