TY - JOUR
T1 - Logical observation identifiers names and codes for laboratorians potential solutions and challenges for interoperability
AU - Stram, Michelle
AU - Gigliotti, Tony
AU - Hartman, Douglas
AU - Pitkus, Andrea
AU - Huff, Stanley M.
AU - Riben, Michael
AU - Henricks, Walter H.
AU - Farahani, Navid
AU - Pantanowitz, Liron
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 College of American Pathologists. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Context.-The Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) system is supposed to facilitate interoperability, and it is the federally required code for exchanging laboratory data. Objective.-To provide an overview of LOINC, emerging issues related to its use, and areas relevant to the pathology laboratory, including the subtleties of test code selection and importance of mapping the correct codes to local test menus. Data Sources.-This review is based on peer-reviewed literature, federal regulations, working group reports, the LOINC database (version 2.65), experience using LOINC in the laboratory at several large health care systems, and insight from laboratory information system vendors. Conclusions.-The current LOINC database contains more than 55 000 numeric codes specific for laboratory tests. Each record in the LOINC database includes 6 major axes/parts for the unique specification of each individual observation or measurement. Assigning LOINC codes to a laboratory's test menu should be a defined process. In some cases, LOINC can aid in distinguishing laboratory data among different information systems, whereby such benefits are not achievable by relying on the laboratory test name alone. Criticisms of LOINC include the complexity and resource-intensive process of selecting the most correct code for each laboratory test, the real-world experience that these codes are not uniformly assigned across laboratories, and that 2 tests that may have the same appropriately assigned LOINC code may not necessarily have equivalency to permit interoperability of their result data. The coding system's limitations, which subsequently reduce the potential utility of LOINC, are poorly understood outside of the laboratory.
AB - Context.-The Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) system is supposed to facilitate interoperability, and it is the federally required code for exchanging laboratory data. Objective.-To provide an overview of LOINC, emerging issues related to its use, and areas relevant to the pathology laboratory, including the subtleties of test code selection and importance of mapping the correct codes to local test menus. Data Sources.-This review is based on peer-reviewed literature, federal regulations, working group reports, the LOINC database (version 2.65), experience using LOINC in the laboratory at several large health care systems, and insight from laboratory information system vendors. Conclusions.-The current LOINC database contains more than 55 000 numeric codes specific for laboratory tests. Each record in the LOINC database includes 6 major axes/parts for the unique specification of each individual observation or measurement. Assigning LOINC codes to a laboratory's test menu should be a defined process. In some cases, LOINC can aid in distinguishing laboratory data among different information systems, whereby such benefits are not achievable by relying on the laboratory test name alone. Criticisms of LOINC include the complexity and resource-intensive process of selecting the most correct code for each laboratory test, the real-world experience that these codes are not uniformly assigned across laboratories, and that 2 tests that may have the same appropriately assigned LOINC code may not necessarily have equivalency to permit interoperability of their result data. The coding system's limitations, which subsequently reduce the potential utility of LOINC, are poorly understood outside of the laboratory.
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U2 - 10.5858/arpa.2018-0477-RA
DO - 10.5858/arpa.2018-0477-RA
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31219342
AN - SCOPUS:85078571965
SN - 0003-9985
VL - 144
SP - 229
EP - 239
JO - Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
JF - Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
IS - 2
ER -