Use Cases

The table below illustrates some of the use cases that SNOMED CT reference sets support. Furthermore, it includes some typical example uses for each use case, and presents the types of reference sets relevant to these example. You can click on the diagrams and the text to navigate to the subpage, which provides more information about each of the use cases, examples and reference sets. The examples shown in the table are not exhaustive. Instead, they illustrate some common scenarios for each type of reference set.

Table: Reference set use cases

USE CASE	EXAMPLES	REFERENCE SET
Search and Data Entry	Constrain searches Constrain data entry Exclude content Order items for search and data entry Display alternative hierarchy for navigation Specify preferred descriptions for display	Simple reference set Query specification reference set Ordered reference set Language reference set Query specification reference set
Knowledge Linkage	Linking concepts to web resources Linking concepts to textual information	Annotation reference set
Reporting and Analytics	Specifying queries Link to statistical classifications	Simple reference set Query specification reference set Simple map reference set (specification) Complex and extended map reference set (specification)
Communication	Constraining the coded content of messages	Simple reference set Query specification reference sets
Language and Dialect	Indications of acceptability of descriptions	Language reference set Simple reference set
Maintenance and Management	Consistent replacements of inactive components Managing value sets	Association reference set Attribute value reference set Association reference set