Clinical codes and content such as SNOMED CT, the Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) and LOINC can now be delivered to software vendors using the emerging HL7 FHIR standard, promising to massively streamline the process of finding and updating codes and providing a one-stop shop for most terminology needs, no matter what the format.

Under a joint project between the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) and the CSIRO's Australian E-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) announced late last year, the clinical software community is being provided with a number of tools for implementing and using clinical terminologies, including CSIRO's Snapper mapping tool, its Ontoserver terminology server and the Lingo authoring tool developed by the ADHA's predecessor, NEHTA.

Now, the agency's National Clinical Terminology Service (NCTS) is set to make using and integrating the terminologies far easier by delivering content via a FHIR API, which will allow vendors to automate the downloading and refreshing of code systems rather than manually having to do it depending on release cycles.