About Veterinary Terminology and Standards (VTS)

Veterinary Terminology and Standards at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is a service-oriented team focused on improving the consistency, interoperability, and re-use of animal health data. VTS supports veterinary laboratories, regulatory partners, clinicians, researchers, and system developers through the development and governance of standardized terminology and data exchange resources.

Our work sits at the intersection of veterinary medicine, public and animal health, and informatics. We focus on the practical application of standards that enable animal health data to be accurately captured, shared, and reused across systems, institutions, and jurisdictions.

What We Do

VTS develops and maintains terminology and structural resources that support real-world animal health workflows, including laboratory testing, regulatory reporting, surveillance, and research. Our activities emphasize alignment with national and international standards, while also addressing gaps specific to veterinary and animal health use cases.

Development and maintenance of veterinary terminology resources, including the Veterinary Extension of SNOMED CT (VetSCT)
Support for structured data capture and messaging in veterinary laboratory and regulatory contexts using HL7 based messaging
Application and coordination of terminology standards such as SNOMED CT, HL7, and LOINC to support consistent representation of laboratory, clinical, regulatory, and research data
Development and governance of supplemental and local terminology sets where existing standards do not fully address animal health use cases
Alignment of veterinary terminology with clinical, laboratory, and research data models
Collaboration with national partners to support outbreak response, surveillance, and data-driven decision-making

Who We Serve

VTS supports a diverse set of stakeholders who rely on high-quality, standardized animal health data, including:

Veterinary diagnostic laboratories
State and federal animal health agencies
Academic researchers and research consortia
Electronic medical record, LIMS, and surveillance system developers
Standards development and governance organizations

Many of the stakeholders we serve depend on the consistent implementation of standards-based terminology and messaging to support interoperability across systems. Our work is designed to be practical, openly accessible where possible, and responsive to community needs.

How We Work

VTS operates as a collaborative and community-engaged program. We prioritize transparency, sustainability, and alignment with existing standards rather than creating isolated solutions. Our approach emphasizes governance, stakeholder input, and long-term sustainability of terminology resources.

We work closely with academic, government, and industry partners to ensure that the resources we develop are both technically sound and operationally usable. When possible, we prioritize alignment with established standards such as SNOMED CT, HL7, and LOINC, extending or supplementing them only when required to support veterinary-specific workflows and regulatory needs.

Learn More

Use the links below to learn more about our Team and our Mission & Scope. If you are interested in collaborating with VTS or learning how our work might support your organization, please reach out to us at vtsl.info@vt.edu.