Relationships with other Organizations / Initiatives

SNOMED-HL7 collaboration

An improving SNOMED-HL7 relationship with closer technical collaboration might help in several areas.

HL7-OMG Services Initiative

Recognizing the need for specifications for services to support healthcare IT as part of national infrastructures (such as US NHII and Australia’s HealthConnect), Health Level Seven and the Object Management Group have forged this agreement to collaborate to the advantage of the health domain sector.

Terminology Services are a natural fit with this initiative, and as such, has been selected as a likely candidate for implementation. Recognizing the significant effort surrounding defining and implementing the CTS Specification as a Terminology Service, the HL7-OMG Services Initiative has selected to align CTS with the HL7 Development Framework (HDF).

How should the CTSII group align itself with the HL7-OMG Services Initiative?

Other standards bodies

In principle I would be in favour of adopting this specification as a future ISO standard. However I think it is not appropriate at this time to promote such a standard as a fast track action. Fast track in my view is only appropriate for matured work from other groups. As discussions in HL7 have started on a CTS2, and because the specification has hardly been implemented around the world, I presently do not yet see much reason for adoption by ISO of this work.