SNOMED CT Expansion
The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO) released a new source code for its IHTSDO Workbench, now available under an Apache2 open source agreement, to develop, maintain, and facilitate the use of SNOMED CT. As the US Member of the IHTSDO, NLM is interested in SNOMED CT’s continued development and distribution. 

Free of charge to open source developers, the IHTSDO will also make available a number of seats on the collaborative web-based environment used to host the Workbench. To help facilitate worldwide collaboration, NLM urges US SNOMED CT users to e-mail NLM about their intentions to access the Workbench.

Chief Implementation and Innovation Officer Search
Recruitment for a new IHTSDO Chief Implementation and Innovation Officer to lead implementation of SNOMED CT closed on January 11, 2010. 

Slovenia and Estonia Welcomed
Slovenia and Estonia have joined IHTSDO, bringing total membership to 15 countries.  For additional information, see: IHTSDO Members page.

Cooperative Agreements and Collaborations
Three recent IHTSDO agreements and/or collaborations include:

• IEEE and IHTSDO Memorandum of Understanding: encourages common terminology for medical devices which will lead to better support and clinical care. 
• WONCA and IHTSDO Cooperative Initiative: facilitates the safe and effective use of information in general practice and family medicine. 
• IHTSDO and openEHR Foundation Collaborative Work Program: explores how clinical terminologies and archetype-based record structures can best be aligned to support electronic health records. 

Standing Committee 2009 Elections
Election results were announced at the October 5, 2009 IHTSDO General Assembly for the four IHTSDO Standing Committees—Content, Quality Assurance, Implementation & Innovation (formerly Research & Innovation), and Technical. Committee rosters as of January 2010 are available at the Standing Committee page.

Campbell Garners First Award for Excellence
James Campbell, MD, was awarded the first-ever IHTSDO Award for Excellence in April 2009. He was honored for his nearly 30-year leadership in developing a compatible worldwide system for electronic health records. Campbell, who chairs the IHTSDO Mapping SIG, is credited with advancements in SNOMED CT to ICD 10 mapping projects. He is a member of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.