FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shelly Spiro
703-599-5051; shelly@PharmacyHIT.org
August 4, 2017
Pharmacy HIT Collaborative Releases Updates to SNOMED CT Value Sets
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia – The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative has announced an updated release of SNOMED CT value sets for pharmacy documentation. The value sets are accessible from the National Library of Medicine’s Value Set Authority Center (VSAC). Pharmacist providers, administrators, and IT professionals are encouraged to review the value sets and engage with software vendors on implementation efforts.
SNOMED CT is a coding terminology used for clinical documentation and a federally recognized health IT standard. Codes are grouped into value sets to guide software implementation and support data exchange and reporting.
“The value sets are designed to support standardized documentation of pharmacy services across all practice settings, regardless of which software is used to capture the data,” said Shelly Spiro, executive director, Pharmacy HIT Collaborative. “All data derived from the value sets could be used to exchange clinical information between providers or report quality measures for public and private quality payment programs.”
The value sets were initially published in 2016 and immediately embraced by the pharmacy profession and industry. Two major initiatives, the Medicare Part D Enhanced MTM Model and the Pharmacist eCare Plan project, both funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Innovation Center, require SNOMED CT documentation and reporting for participation. As a result, over 20 pharmacy software vendors, 5 major health plans, standard development organizations, industry stakeholders, and providers have adopted the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative value sets.
The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative plans to release value set updates twice annually based on public feedback, changes in health IT standards, and lessons learned from implementation efforts.
For more information, visit pharmacyhit.org.
About the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative
The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative is a coalition of nine professional pharmacy associations and additional stakeholders representing the pharmacy profession in all matters related to health information technology.
Additional implementation resources are available on the Resource Center page of the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative website.