Dear Ministry of Health,

I refer to the following Ministry of Health weblink: https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/ne...
in which the following is stated as I quote below;

"Why SNOMED?

As the new standard, SNOMED provides more detailed, actionable and useful information about health and disability status, impact on life, interventions and outcomes than was possible previously. SNOMED will enable new levels of care coordination and clinical decision support, enabling the value and high performance and smart system objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy."

Official Information Request 1:

I welcome the provision by the Corporation of all information associated with the New Zealand Health Strategy referred to in the Ministry of Healths communications referred to and quoted above, together with all official information that details the "value and high performance and smart system objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy".

Official Information Request 2:

Since 1990 accident and illness codes have historically been recorded as ACC Read Codes through ACC and ICD-10 Diagnostic Codes through the hospital system. Both systems have provided a code, which has a specific injury or illness description associated with the medical matter requiring attention, and have been used to guide treatment and rehabilitation.

The Ministry of Health's weblink quoted above states and I quote;

"SNOMED is the standard international system of clinical terminology used to record precise, structured and actionable information about a person’s health and disability status and the care and support they receive."

and later goes on to state and I quote again;

"Why SNOMED?
As the new standard, SNOMED provides more detailed, actionable and useful information about health and disability status, impact on life, interventions and outcomes than was possible previously. SNOMED will enable new levels of care coordination and clinical decision support, enabling the value and high performance and smart system objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy."

Official Information Request 2:

I welcome the provision by the Ministry of Health confirmation of the information classes/classification's and types in which theMinistry of Health claims that SNOWMED provides;

(i) more detail (i.e. what is the extra detail that SNOWMED provides),
(ii) actionable and useful information about health and disability status (please specify what the actionable and useful information classes are),
(iii) impact on life (what categories/impacts are classified and how are they classified)
(iv) interventions and outcomes (how are the interventions and outcomes registered and classified)

Official Information Request 3:

Please confirm how "SNOMED will enable new levels of care coordination and clinical decision support, enabling the value and high performance and smart system objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy", by confirming what SNOMED's expectations and performance measures are in relation to the "new levels of care coordination and clinical decision support" that is being promoted by the Ministry of Health in its referred communications.

I appreciate your time and assistance and under s16(2) of the Official Information Act, my preferred way of receiving a response is by email to the address from which ACC received the original request, not by post.

Kind regards,
David Lawson

A copy of the text from the Ministry of Health's website found at https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/ne... is quoted below;

Migrating from READ codes to SNOMED CT for better information in primary care
Representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development and the Accident Compensation Corporation have formed a cross-agency group for migrating to the new SNOMED classification system.

News article
20 December 2017
SNOMED replaces the now-outdated READ code system used in New Zealand since the 1990s to capture information in medical records, injury claims and medical certificates.

SNOMED is the standard international system of clinical terminology used to record precise, structured and actionable information about a person’s health and disability status and the care and support they receive.

SNOMED will underpin a better understanding of the health and social sector and will eventually be used by thousands of providers.

This cross-agency initiative involves working together on a joined-up plan, and clearly communicating with the health and disability sector about expectations and timeframes for change.

The three agencies recognise the need to manage the transition to SNOMED in a gradual and systematic way. Agencies will adapt their own information systems to enable health providers to make the changeover. Agencies will also publish the standards and implementation guidance the sector needs.

The cross-agency group will meet quarterly to support progress, and align their own agency priorities and resources towards a coordinated effort for change over the next two years.

The Ministry of Health is the lead agency on behalf of the NZ Government.

A further update will be issued after the next executive meeting scheduled for February 2018.

Why SNOMED?
As the new standard, SNOMED provides more detailed, actionable and useful information about health and disability status, impact on life, interventions and outcomes than was possible previously. SNOMED will enable new levels of care coordination and clinical decision support, enabling the value and high performance and smart system objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy.

Health providers support the move to SNOMED for better information across all health and disability services, improving user experience and outcomes for all New Zealanders.

Benefits to general practice and allied health relate to data integration, identifying at risk individuals, System Level Measures and new models of care.