Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) have impacted the provision of high-quality, patient-centered care by providing a standardized, multilingual vocabulary of clinical terminology that is used by physicians and other health care providers for the electronic exchange of clinical health information (Rouse, 2010). By implementing a standardized, multilingual medical terminologies, clinicians are able to understand the patient’s current or past medical history annotated in their record whether in a hard copy or electronic health record (EHR). Rouse (2010) stated, “SNOMED CT provides a standard by which medical conditions and symptoms can be referred, eliminating the confusion that may result from the use of regional or colloquial terms.
The numerical reference system also facilitates the exchange of clinical information among disparate health care providers and electronic medical records (EMR) systems.”There is nothing more important in medical and in nursing practice than to have a standardized terminology. “If it cannot be named, it cannot be financed, practiced, taught, controlled, or put into a policy for the public” (Clark ; Lang, 1992).
That still holds true today, regardless of the practice. “If wanting to capture the nursing’s independent contributions, it will require the use of standardized terminologies reflective of the nursing outcomes” (Thede ; Schwiran, 2011, para.). Distinguishing between the practices and purposes in healthcare, rest in the comprehensive language used and understood by medical and nursing discipline (Thede ; Schwiran, 2011). Making it simple by assessing the competency of each specialty; a standard wording can be used to facilitate the task.
