Implementers are free to adopt or adapt these subsets to meet their particular clinical and business requirements. In order to maintain semantic interoperability, as implementations might pre-adopt new codes, implementers should be able to accept, store and retrieve additional concepts using the same code system(s) for these subsets.
Release schedule:
Table of Contents
Release Types
Infoway has four types of releases: Initial, Maintenance, Inactivation and Deprecation. More information on these release types can be found in Table 1.
Table 1: Release Types
Release Type | Descriptions | Colour Coding |
---|---|---|
Initial | This type of release is used when it is the first release of a subset. | |
Maintenance | This type of release is used when a previously published release has been updated and republished either through a regular standard release from standards organisation or Request for changes (RFC). | |
Inactivation | This type of release is used when a subset is no longer in use (inactive) and is being prepared for deprecation. The inactivation period (status) is for one (1) year, followed by a deprecation period (status) for one (1) year. If there are no maintenance requests during the inactivation-deprecation cycle that last two (2) years, the subset is deprecated as a next step. | |
Deprecation | This type of release is used when a subset is no longer available for use. |
Subset Status
This represents the current status of a subset in the Terminology Gateway. Subsets are either Active, Inactive or Draft.
Inactive subsets
Draft subsets
Pre-adoption is defined as implementing a new concept and code before it is officially released or published in the next version of the reference terminology. Concepts and codes are pre-released to meet the implementation needs of implementers, and these concepts and codes are subject to change until time of release.
The concepts contained in the subsets are expected to evolve on an on-going basis.
Requests for change can be loaded as batch or individual requests and tracked in the InfoRMS tool (Infoway Request Management System). Please note that an InfoCentral account is required and access to InfoRMS.
Information on the process and how to access to the tool can be found on InfoCentral.
Contact the Infodesk at [email protected] to receive additional guidance regarding the potential use, management and pre-adoption of the subsets. In all circumstances the responsibility for evaluating the appropriate use of the subsets is the responsibility of the implementer.
The subsets use different terminologies to represent their members as indicated in the Terms of Use and Disclaimer tab on the downloadable spreadsheet. Please refer to the InfoCentral Terms of Use page for more details.
Note that the license agreements are available on InfoCentral and the acceptance of the license agreements must be updated annually for continued use.
The description field in the HL7 subsets is optional. It is left empty when adding a description does not add to the understanding of the concept definition.
Where French synonyms exist, the Display (French) column will display the French term.
Note that it is possible to have more than one French term for a concept.
If a French description is required, follow the instructions on how to make such a request in the section below on Questions, Concerns, Changes, Corrections.
Infoway has published a General Canadian French Editorial Guidelines, titled, Guide des règles éditoriales et terminologiques. This guide can be found in the General section on the SNOMED CT Standard page on InfoCentral.
The French Preferred terms are added to subsets upon request. Please see the Maintenance section on the pCLOCD and SNOMED CT pages for details on requesting the addition of French content.
Subsets using SNOMED CT codes have associated editorial guidelines. Refer to those before submitting any request for change.
SNOMED CT International, Canadian English and French, Immunization, Diagnostic Imaging and Immunization editorial guidelines can be found on the SNOMED CT - Canadian Edition pages.
Questions and concerns about the current version of the subsets, or related material are always welcome via Infodesk at [email protected].