Desired Organizational Criteria for Core Terminologies
1. Establish intellectual property and licensing terms for the core terminologies (perhaps as a group) that allow the widest use while preventing the proliferation of local, non-standard “dialects.”
2. Provide the governance structure of the core terminology developers (perhaps as a group) that guarantees responsible stewardship of the standard and responsiveness to all stakeholders within the defined scope.
3. Incorporate a funding mechanism for the core terminology developers and their development activities (perhaps as a group) that guarantees professional support, timely updates and long- term viability.
4. Appropriate policies and processes for maintenance of the core terminology that preserve high quality while maximizing the rate of enhancement. These policies may entail ANSI-accredited balloting procedures, less formal consensus-based processes or other methods.
2005. HHS notice on 20 CHI standards is adopted by all federal agencies, including SNOMED CT for nursing.
2007. The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) recommends SNOMED CT reference terminology to communicate interoperable information among and between systems. In
Identifying Challenges and Opportunities within Standard Nursing Terminologies 31
addition, the HITSP Interoperability Specification Pre-condition specifies that the sending and using systems must use formal coded nursing terminologies such as the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System and the Omaha System that are integrated in SNOMED CT.
2008. The ANA establishes a six-point framework to describe the basic requirements for a standardized nursing terminology. This framework is entitled “Recognition Criteria Approved by the Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics.” See Exhibit C for summary of the six-point criteria.