The "Common Ontology" between ICD 11 and SNOMED CT to ensure semantic interoperability

The panel will present and discuss the progress of work in the harmonization of the upcoming revision of the ICD 11 and the SNOMED CT. The creation of a "Common Ontology" has been agreed by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and IHTSDO (International Health Terminology Standard Development Organisation) which formally shares the same entities with the same entity names, same definitions and similar parent-child relationships between a selected subset of the ICD 11 Foundation and the corresponding SNOMED CT terms. To achieve this goal a pilot work has been completed on the cardiovascular system disorders. The common ontology is beyond and above the conventional mapping SNOMED CT to ICD entities as it also includes compatibility of the ontological IS_A relations. When complete this ontology will enable end-users employ SNOMED CT and ICD interchangeably. Due to the current differences between the two systems in terms of goals, uses, hierarchies and granularity levels it is necessary to base the alignment on a thorough analysis of the intended meaning of their representational units. The panel will present the underlying principles and methods used for defining and creating a common ontology, its potential applications such as its use in Health Information Systems and particularly the Electronic Health Record.