Managing information with SNOMED: understanding the model.

SNOMED is an inventory of medical terms and concepts. Each concept has a unique representation, it's primary termcode. The primary termcode carries hierarchical and inheritable information about each concept it represents. Additional hierarchical and inheritable information is carried by cross references linked to each concept. The cross references provide the defining characteristics for each concept thereby creating a computer readable definition for each SNOMED entry. These are some of the attributes that define the SNOMED model.