Applications of the telematics infrastructure (TI) such as the electronic health record for everyone, the secure e-mail procedure KIM and the TI-Messenger allow an increasingly convenient and flexible exchange of medical data and documents. To ensure that the information exchanged is precise and unambiguous, it is normally not exchanged in plain text, but as coded concepts. For this purpose, both national and international semantic standards are used in the German healthcare system. Examples are the code system ICD-10-GM, which indicates the diagnosis when a sick note is issued, for example, or the international code system LOINC, which will be used by laboratories and doctors to exchange laboratory values in the future.

In the future, all code systems, value lists (subsets of code systems relevant for a specific application) and mappings (relationships between code systems) relevant to the German healthcare system will be provided centrally, in a binding and standardized manner via the central terminology server of the German healthcare system.

In accordance with Section 355, Paragraphs 12 and 13 of the German Social Security Code, Book V (SGB V), gematik and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) are tasked with setting up and operating this central terminology server. The objectives of the central terminology server are, in particular, to

• provide code systems, value lists and mappings in a standardized format and via standardized access routes,
• providing officially used German translations and international code systems and value lists that have been expanded for the German healthcare system,
• establishing a reliable reference source for the cross-application and cross-sector use of coded data (single source of truth),
• ensuring the long-term availability and traceability of different versions of the provided code systems, value lists and mappings.

The terminology server is available at https://terminologien.bfarm.de.