Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terminology (SNOMED CT) Clinical Use Cases in the Context of Electronic Health Record Systems: Systematic Literature Review.BACKGROUND
 The Systematized Medical Nomenclature for Medicine-Clinical Terminology (SNOMED CT) is a clinical terminology system that provides a standardized and scientifically validated way of representing clinical information captured by clinicians.  Even though SNOMED CT consists of extensively studied clinical terminology, previous research has repeatedly documented a lack of scientific evidence for SNOMED CT in the form of reported clinical use cases in electronic health record systems.


 The aim of this study was to explore evidence in previous literature reviews of clinical use cases of SNOMED CT integrated into EHR systems or other clinical applications during the last 5 years of continued development.  The study sought to identify the main clinical use purposes, use phases, and key clinical benefits documented in SNOMED CT use cases.


 In total, 17 research articles illustrating SNOMED CT clinical use cases were reviewed.  The use purpose of SNOMED CT was documented in all the articles, with the terminology as a standard in EHR being the most common (8/17).  The most common category of use phases was SNOMED CT in development (6/17).  Core benefits achieved by applying SNOMED CT in a clinical context were identified by the researchers.  While the SNOMED CT use categories were well supported by previous research, this review demonstrates that further systematic research on clinical use cases is needed to promote the scalability of the review results.  A lesson to be drawn from our study is that SNOMED CT is essential for structuring clinical data; however, research is needed to gather more evidence of how SNOMED CT benefits clinical care and patient safety.
SNOMED CT
It can be integrated into electronic health records (EHRs) to increase the possibilities for effective data use and ensure a better quality of documentation that supports continuity of care, thus enabling better quality in the care process.  The aim of this study was to explore evidence in previous literature reviews of clinical use cases of SNOMED CT integrated into EHR systems or other clinical applications during the last 5 years of continued development. 
EHRs