Inside Australia’s 20-Year Interoperability Journey with SNOMED CT Episode 10: Show NotesAustralia has been working to build a more connected digital health ecosystem for nearly two decades, with interoperability at the centre of its approach. As one of SNOMED International’s founding members, Australia has developed a range of strategies, standards, and initiatives designed to help health information flow safely and seamlessly across care settings.In this episode, host Kelly Kuru is joined by Peter O'Halloran, Chief Digital Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency, which is hosting SNOMED CT Expo 2026 in Sydney, Australia, from October 21-23, 2026. Together, they discuss Australia's digital health ecosystem, the implementation maturity across acute and primary care sectors, and how foundational strategies such as the National Digital Health Strategy (2023–2028) drive shared commitment. Peter also shares insights on the role of SNOMED CT in ensuring patient safety, the success of Australia's Sparked FHIR accelerator, and what attendees can expect from the upcoming SNOMED CT Expo in Sydney. Key Points From This Episode: • [00:36] Intro to Peter O’Halloran and the Australian Digital Health Agency.• [01:25] Peter O'Halloran's role and the importance of interoperability.• [02:40] Terminology without borders: Perspectives on implementation maturity.• [04:34] Digital health maturity across Australia.• [06:21] Australia’s national digital health strategy and interoperability plan.• [08:12] How Australia is learning from, and contributing to, global interoperability.• [11:23] Why SNOMED CT remains critical to interoperability in Australia.• [13:29] Sparked: Australia's national FHIR accelerator.• [16:34] What attendees can expect from the SNOMED CT Expo in SydneyQuotes:One of the things we do in Australia very well is we never think we have the solutions to all of the problems we have. And so we like to share our problems with people, but also to learn what's worked for them and to share what's worked for us. — Peter O'Halloran [03:31]“The benefit we see of having that data flow across all care settings means that patients can get the best health outcomes no matter where they go to access care.” — Peter O'Halloran [05:39]“And I think that's the real power of what we do together is we all have a common outcome; we're not competing with each other. And that collaboration, whether it's inside our own nations or internationally, is actually what gives us the ideas and the ability to move forward.” — Peter O'Halloran [10:47]“Australia chose SNOMED and has kept SNOMED for nearly 20 years because it is the most advanced, broadest, and deepest clinical terminology out there. There is nothing else that competes with it. There is nothing that is even close in terms of its coverage. And that’s critical for us.” — Peter O'Halloran [11:55]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Peter O’Halloran - https://www.linkedin.com/in/petertransforms/ Australian Digital Health Agency - https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/SNOMED CT Expo 2026 - https://www.snomed.org/snomedct-expoKelly Kuru - https://www.snomed.org/our-team/kelly-kuruSNOMED International - https://www.snomed.org
Impulsando SNOMED CT en el Hispano Parlante Episodio 09: Notas del episodio SNOMED International está trabajando para fortalecer la colaboración, el intercambio de conocimientos y la participación en toda América Latina y el resto del mundo hispanohablante. A medida que más países de la región adoptan SNOMED CT, surge una oportunidad creciente para compartir experiencias, herramientas, lecciones aprendidas y enfoques sobre interoperabilidad semántica. En este episodio, grabado para la audiencia hispanohablante de SNOMED International, Victor Medina, Terminólogo Senior y Líder de CSRM para América Latina, y Alejandro Lopez Osornio, Especialista Senior de Soporte a la Implementación en SNOMED International, se reúnen con las invitadas Rossana Occhiuzzi, Coordinadora de Interoperabilidad Semántica para Salud Digital, y Betania Arispe, Representante de Uruguay en el Foro de miembros de SNOMED lnternational. Ambas trabajan en el área de salud digital de Agesic, la Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento, y han estado liderando la adopción nacional de SNOMED CT desde 2014. Juntos, el panel analiza el recorrido de Uruguay como país pionero en interoperabilidad semántica en la región, así como los desafíos prácticos y técnicos de adoptar SNOMED CT en diversas instituciones de salud. La conversación también va más allá de Uruguay para observar a la comunidad hispanohablante y LatinoAmericana en general, incluyendo los esfuerzos de SNOMED International para fortalecer la colaboración regional, apoyar a países Miembros y no Miembros, compartir experiencias de implementación y proporcionar herramientas, capacitación y recursos. Puntos clave de este episodio: [00:36] Introducción al episodio, los anfitriones y las invitadas especiales de Uruguay. [02:43] La estrategia de SNOMED International y la expansión de sus miembros en América Latina. [04:26] Cómo aprovecha Uruguay SNOMED CT dentro de su historia clínica electrónica nacional. [08:52] Características únicas del ecosistema uruguayo y la adopción de SNOMED CT. [13:04] Cómo colabora actualmente Uruguay con otros países. [17:39] Kits de herramientas de implementación, seminarios web en español y recursos de código abierto. [21:04] Conclusiones clave, lecciones y consejos para los países que están adoptando SNOMED CT. Citas: “Pienso que en el caso de Uruguay ya conta, contamos con algunas ventajas que, como decía Rossana, bueno, somos un país pequeño en que se maneja el mismo idioma, el mismo dialecto en todo el territorio nacional. Y por otro lado, bueno, también tenemos un sistema nacional integrado de salud ya desde hace muchos años en el que se integran tanto prestadores de salud públicos como privados en una misma red. Entonces todo eso facilita ya la interoperabilidad.” — Betania Arispe [11:33] “Nosotros creemos fuertemente que SNOMED es un componente central de lo que es la estrategia de interoperabilidad semántica, verdad? Su valor no solamente está en disponer una terminología clínica, sino también en la posibilidad de representar la información de manera consistente, poder compartirla y reutilizarla con un significado común.” — Rossana Occhiuzzi [21:50] “Durante estos 12 años de trabajo, creo que hemos generado muchas lecciones, aprendí allá y nos parece muy buena la oportunidad de poder compartirla con los países que están avanzando en implementaciones similares para allanar un poco el camino.” — Betania Arispe [23:11] Enlaces mencionados en el episodio de hoy: Rossana Occhiuzzi - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossana-occhiuzzi-90b667a2/ Agesic - http://www.agesic.gub.uy/ Victor Medina - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-victormedina/ Alejandro Lopez Osornio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-lopez-osornio-7a9b186/ SNOMED International - https://www.snomed.org
Episode 08: Show Notes Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being adopted across healthcare, with a growing number of tools claiming to work with SNOMED CT. But until now, there has been no standardized way to independently evaluate those claims or assess how effectively AI systems can map clinical information to SNOMED CT concepts. In this episode, Rory Davidson, Chief Digital Information Officer at SNOMED International, is joined by Will Hardman, Machine Learning and Data Science Specialist at Veritai, and Chris Kucharczyk, Lead Data Scientist at DrivenData, to discuss the launch of the SNOMED CT Entity Linking Benchmark. Together, they explore why SNOMED International developed the benchmark, how it builds on the earlier SNOMED CT Entity Linking Challenge, and why ongoing evaluation is essential in an era of rapidly evolving AI models. The discussion covers the complex process of building and annotating a clinically credible dataset, the challenges of measuring AI performance in healthcare, and the role the benchmark can play in helping health systems, vendors, and developers better understand the strengths and limitations of their solutions. Key Points from This Episode: [00:36] Introduction to the SNOMED CT Entity Linking Benchmark. [03:41] Benchmark vs. challenge: what's the difference? [06:28] Building the clinical annotation process and dataset. [10:24] How the benchmark is scored and evaluated. [13:29] How large language models have changed entity linking. [17:21] What the benchmark means for the SNOMED CT community. [19:18] Why vendors and developers should participate. [21:57] Looking ahead: where the benchmark goes next. Quotes: “But I suppose the real learning from this is that if you have a diverse team, even with a really good set of guidelines, there's still going to be some disagreement over the meaning of terms, and that kind of puts an upper bound on how well you can expect a machine to do. Because if two people only agree 85% of the time, you can't expect a machine to do better than that.” — Will Hardman [09:30]: “And that is why, if for no other reason than for the interchange of precise information between language models, the terminology has become even more important now than it was before.” — Will Hardman [16:27]: “Instead of saying, ‘Ah, we are great at this thing’ without an easy way to verify it, now we have something where we can directly compare different approaches, and that interoperability is going to make a big difference in how we're able to evaluate how well these different tools work.” — Chris Kucharczyk [21:19] “And I think my hope for a success story 12 to 18 months from now is we get to a point where we have good enough systems that can start to bootstrap the next evaluation dataset for a new benchmark.” — Chris Kucharczyk [23:09] Links Mentioned in This Episode: Will Hardman- https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-hardman-81898323/ Veritai - https://www.veratai.co.uk/ Chris Kucharczyk - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-kucharczyk-9783b937/ DrivenData - https://drivendata.co/ SNOMED CT Entity Linking Benchmark - https://www.drivendata.org/ Rory Davidson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydavidson/ SNOMED International - https://www.snomed.org/
A Clearer Path Forward: Introducing the SNOMED CT Maturity Framework and Assessment ToolEpisode 07: Show NotesSNOMED International has released a new Implementation Maturity Framework designed to help Members, vendors, and implementing organizations better understand their progress with SNOMED CT and identify the steps needed to reach their future goals. Built in response to community demand, the framework offers a structured, practical way to assess readiness, capability, and strategic alignment across a range of implementation domains.In this episode, Kelly Kuru, Chief Communications and Collaborations Officer, is joined by two of the three team members responsible for SNOMED International's implementation services approach: Anne Randorff Højen, Implementation Support Specialist, and Alejandro Lopez Osornio, Senior Implementation Specialist. Together, they explore the purpose of the new framework, how it was designed, and why it has become a central part of SNOMED International’s wider strategy to support Members. Anne and Alejandro unpack the five Key Process Areas (KPAs) that form the backbone of the framework, the three tailored assessment streams, and the new self-assessment tool that turns organizational reflection into actionable next steps.Key Points From This Episode:[01:11] An introduction to the new Implementation Maturity Framework.[03:50] How this framework aligns with SNOMED International’s 5-year strategy.[05:00] The three dedicated streams of the tool and how it meets distinct needs.[07:56] How the new assessment tool works and the five KPAs.[11:36] How SNOMED International is helping people understand how to use this tool.[14:06] The time required to complete a full assessment.[16:19] The final part: a downloadable report including your maturity index.[18:53] Key takeaways.Quotes:“The implementation maturity framework is really designed to help anyone involved in implementing SNOMED CT to understand where they are on their journey and what steps they might take next.” — Anne Randorff Højen [01:43]“We've had an implementation maturity model for several years, but the key enhancement in this new version of the framework is that it has a much broader perspective.” — Anne Randorff Højen [01:56]“A way to understand your progress is important, so you can design your processes, you can define your organizations, your human resources, your skills, your governance structure, so you can achieve those goals.” — Alejandro Lopez Osornio [0:04:16]“If [there’s] anything I can say about our implementation team here at SNOMED is that there is always continuous improvement and there is always a lot of activity in terms of new and exciting ways that we can try and support implementers.” — Kelly Kuru [0:13:47]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Alejandro Lopez OsornioAnne Randorff HøjenSNOMED CT Implementation Maturity FrameworkImplementation Maturity Assessment ToolSNOMED CT Implementation Support PortalKelly KuruSNOMED International
Translating SNOMED CT: New tools, tactics and approachesEpisode 06: Show NotesSNOMED International produces a terminology intended to provide a standardized and structured way of representing clinical information so it can be accurately captured, shared, understood, and used across healthcare systems. For an international organization with more than 50 Member countries globally, translation is a pressing and constant challenge. In this episode, Kelly Kuru, Chief Collaborations & Communications Officer for SNOMED International, is joined by Ole Våge, chair of SNOMED’s Translation User Group and a terminologist at the Norwegian Health Directorate; Feikje Hielkema-Raadsveld, computational linguist at Nictiz, a Dutch knowledge organization for digital information provision in healthcare; and Kai Kewley, a technical specialist for SNOMED International's Implementation Support Team. Following the Translation User Group meeting held in Oslo in April 2025, these key participants discuss the need for accurate translations of SNOMED CT as more and more non-English speaking countries become Members, the complexities and logistics involved, and the different approaches taken by different countries. They also unpack how the SNOMED Translation User Group is advancing the translation of the terminology internationally, new and evolving tooling that SNOMED International has been developing, and how AI is being leveraged to support translation. Key Points from This Episode:[00:51] An introduction to the topic of translation.[02:26] The roles of the guests and the importance of translation.[04:29] The complexities of SNOMED CT implementation for non-English speaking countries.[05:41] The resources and logistics of translation.[07:08] Considerations for an international organization before becoming a member.[08:53] How different countries decide what they will or won’t translate.[11:10] Engagement and feedback on SNOMED’s translation and implementation internationally.[14:35] The evolution of the Translation User Group.[17:58] The development of tooling used for translation.[21:12] How AI is being leveraged to support translation.[23:45] What success looks like in the translation space.Quotes:“I think it's very important that we go to all this effort of translation because that's what enables us to use international code systems and you can't have interoperability with all kinds of local code systems.” — Feikje Hielkema-Raadsveld [0:03:29] “So when you're translating anything, there's always problems like words in languages that look alike, but don't mean the same thing, like false friends. There's a problem that languages have different concepts, different distinctions that they draw, that they have words for. So one of the examples we faced was SNOMED contains a concept for ‘giddy’ and it contains a concept for ‘dizzy.’ And in Dutch, that's both translated as ‘duizelig’. And actually, SNOMED contained a third concept as well, which was ‘giddy and dizzy.’ And that one really stumped us, obviously. So those are problems that you always face whatever you're translating. But SNOMED, it's more complex because for one thing, it's very important that you get it right. It's health care data. So even the finest distinction matters. Every concept is supposed to be unique. So if you arrive at the same translation, you have a problem that you need to solve. — Feikje Hielkema [04:38]“I think we have reached some kind of maturity now that instead of resolving individual translations, individual concepts, we are looking into what overarching issues are we facing when we translate ontology, which also depends on a certain culture.” — Ole Våge [0:16:25]“I feel really excited about this new effort being made because tooling was painful for us when we did this initial big translation. It helped us, but also caused some obstacles. So this, I think, would be a big next step for having high-quality translations of SNOMED CT in many countries.” — Ole Våge [0:20:48]Links mentioned in this episode:SNOMED’s Translation User GroupOle VågeNorwegian Health DirectorateFeikje Hielkema-RaadsveldNictizKai KewleyKelly KuruSNOMED InternationalSNOMED International Implementation Support PortalSNOMED International translation tools