SNOMED(R) is the Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine.The integration of a clinical terminology such as SNOMED CT into computer-based patient records provides a comprehensive and functional terminology for clinical care.Oversight of the "content" is provided by a multi-disciplinary editorial board with broad representation from clinical practice and academia. What is a Clinical Reference Terminology? A reference terminology is defined as "a set of concepts and relationships that provide a common reference point for comparisons and aggregation of data about the entire health care process, recorded by multiple different individuals, systems or institutions."SNOP consisted of logically organized codes for the key terms that describe the pathology case:

Topography - The part of the body from which the specimen came
Morphology - The pathologic change documented in the report
Procedure - The method by which the specimen was obtained
In the mid-1970s, work began to expand the coded vocabulary beyond pathology and develop a terminology that would encompass the entire medical record.Controlled means that the content of the terminology is validated with careful quality assurance procedures in place to ensure that the terminology is structurally sound, biomedically accurate and consistent with current practice.SNOMED CT's 19 hierarchies provide coverage in diseases, findings, procedures, body structures, pharmacy products and other health care concepts.For example, hierarchical relationships can be defined using the "is a" link to identify which concepts are included within broader concepts. Along with other relationships, a network of meaning is created that is useful for computer representation and processing that allows a computer to answer basic questions such as: "Is angina pectoris a type of heart disease?"The hierarchical nature of SNOMED CT enables recording and documentation of clinical data at the appropriate level of detail that can later be analyzed from other perspectives and groupings.SNOMED CT is the merger of SNOMED RT and the United Kingdom's CTV 3 terminology, formerly known as the Read codes.