There have been two announcements concerning Apelon in the last two weeks. Apelon is a US based commercial vendor of terminology development and implementation software and consulting services.
1. Apelon terminology service solution - DTS is going open source 2. NEHTA have announced that Termworks, a tool to assist mapping or linking of lists of terms or concepts to SNOMED, is available to Australian licensees of SNOMED. On a related subject SNOMED-CT ownership has moved to an international health terminology standards group (of which Australia is a charter member through NEHTA) paving the way for increased use internationally and ensuring long term and affordable access to the terminology. Further details below. Peter MacIsaac On behalf of the TerminologyCentral Group. Specialist consultants in health terminology, data management and information architecture. HYPERLINK "mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"[EMAIL PROTECTED] peter_macisaac (skype) 61 2 61611327 (landline) 61 411403462 (mobile/cell) HYPERLINK "http://www.macisaacinformatics.org/"www.macisaacinformatics.org APELON VOCABULARY SERVER NOW OPEN SOURCE Commercial Terminology Software Available on SourceForge Ridgefield, CT – May 2, 2007 – Apelon, a leading provider of terminology and data interoperability solutions, today announced that it has placed its Distributed Terminology System (DTS) software in SourceForge as an open source project. The SourceForge link is http://sourceforge.net/projects/apelon-dts/. DTS assists in the management, integration, and deployment of structured biomedical terminology. It has the broadest installed user base of any such software, and is part of applications that include clinical data repositories, EMR systems, public health programs, decision support, guideline authoring, and interface engines. “Apelon first licensed DTS as a commercial product seven years ago, and has continuously improved it through several major releases,” said Stephen Coady, Apelon President and CEO. “But semantic interoperability and health information exchange are progressing disappointingly slowly. Open sourcing DTS makes the tools that have been used in many of the world’s major terminology projects available to a broader range of organizations and entities.” Apelon believes that the presence of DTS on SourceForge has the potential to rapidly put the clinical terminology community significantly ahead of where it is now. DTS’ tools for terminology browsing, editing and formal classification are unique in the industry and Apelon expects that their broader availability will accelerate the adoption of standards in clinical applications. Apelon will continue to offer content and support services for DTS. For further information on open source DTS see HYPERLINK "http://www.apelon.com/products/dts/dts%20faq.htm"http://www.apelon.com/prod ucts/dts/dts faq.htm. About Apelon Apelon helps leading healthcare enterprises, life sciences organizations and government agencies improve the quality, comparability and accessibility of their information. Apelon offers solutions and professional services for terminology development, management, mapping and deployment. Visit HYPERLINK "http://www.apelon.com/"www.Apelon.com for additional information. ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Dear SNOMED CT License Holder I am writing to inform you that NEHTA has recently become, on behalf of Australia, a Charter Member of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO); an organisation established to own and manage the ongoing development of SNOMED CT. As a Member of the IHTSDO, NEHTA will be responsible for distributing and managing SNOMED CT in Australia, and will develop, maintain and distribute relevant Australian content and extensions of the terminology. This development is significant for you as a license holder as it provides the certainty that you will have free access to SNOMED CT on an ongoing basis. This removes a key barrier to the use of SNOMED CT within clinical software applications in Australia. NEHTA’s membership to the IHTSDO also entitles Australia to a voice in the international governance, development and maintenance of SNOMED CT. There will, however, be some changes to your license which we will fully inform you of and advise the next steps to be taken. Details will be emailed to you shortly, however in brief: o The existing license you hold with NEHTA will need to be replaced by a new licensing arrangement which meets NEHTA’s obligations under the IHTSDO Membership agreement; o This new arrangement will involve a dual licensing model, one license for the international SNOMED CT product managed by the IHTSDO and a separate license to cover Australian content; o Both these licenses will be issued as single a package by NEHTA; o NEHTA will contact you directly by early June to provide you with both licenses; o If your organisation operates in more than one of the Charter Member countries listed later in this email, you will be required to obtain an international agreement from the IHTSDO. There may be additional conditions stipulated by the local NRC of the countries you wish to conduct business under a separate license agreement; o If your organisation operates in a non-member country, e.g. Thailand, a separate agreement will be negotiated with the IHTSDO. Payment will be due to the IHTSDO in this situation; o The international release of SNOMED CT and all Australian specific content will continue to be made available to those who hold the new license through NEHTA’s secure site for Australian health terminologies beginning with the July 2007 SNOMED CT international which we expect to make available for download in August. This delay is to allow any necessary Australian specific processing to take place; o Use of SNOMED CT and related products in Australia under the terms of the new license will continue to be free of charge; and o In the interim you can continue to use SNOMED CT as per the existing arrangements. NEHTA has been working actively with a small group of representatives from other Charter Member countries (including Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America) to establish the IHTSDO. The IHTSDO has acquired the rights to SNOMED CT and its predecessors, documentation and other items from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for US$7.8 million. This exciting new development in the international adoption and use of SNOMED CT could not take place without an international governance structure that would be open to the entire global healthcare community. The IHTSDO is registered as a not for-profit Association in Denmark, Membership is open to all countries and there is a provision for sponsored use in developing countries. The IHTSDO will establish formal harmonisation activities with other organisations, including the World Health Organization, to promote effective interoperability between SNOMED CT and other important health data standards. A description of the IHTSDO’s goals and its open and participatory governance processes is at HYPERLINK "http://www.ihtsdo.org/"http://www.ihtsdo.org/. Further information is available on the NEHTA website and as previously mentioned we will be sending additional license information to you in the coming weeks. Yours sincerely Paul Frosdick Director - National Clinical Terminology Service nehta – National E-Health Transition Authority ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________ Please note: due to increasing problems with SPAM, I am using SPAM ARREST - HYPERLINK "http://www.spamarrest.com/affl?4034505"http://www.spamarrest.com/affl?40345 05 - a relatively inexpensive service which extends my current email service and prevents automated SPAM attacks by checking with email senders that they are bonefide people needing to communicate with me. If you are not already in my address book and reply to this, you may receive a confirmation email asking you to respond. Once you answer, the email is on the way and will receive my attention. I am evaluating this service and would appreciate any feedback on it. I also have information on the corporate configuration of the service. No virus found in this outgoing message. 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