The Regenstrief Institute’s latest update to the Logical Observation Identifiers and Names (LOINC) database features nearly 1,600 new concepts and 1,400 modifications aimed at enhancing the exchange and interoperability of health data across global systems.
The LOINC tool is used to standardize health information across 196 countries, with the update covering a wide range of healthcare focus areas, including diagnostics, medical devices, public health reporting, social determinants of health, and many other assessments.
250 new concepts
One of the main focuses of the update is the introduction of approximately 250 new concepts aimed at improving the representation of electronic health data, with the aim of facilitating the transfer of data between systems with different structures.
One of the new concepts being developed is a Food and Drug Administration-approved diagnostic system that uses artificial intelligence to detect cervical cancer.
The update also continues to improve post-acute care assessments as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Other important collaborations include working with the Diabetes Technology Consortium to standardize data for continuous glucose monitoring devices and with the National Committee for Quality Assurance on evaluations for the management of severe chronic pain.
Pathology Data in Australia
Additional updates focus on pathology information concepts in Australasia, a subregion of Oceania that includes Australia, New Zealand, and several neighboring Pacific islands, and support for the Netherlands’ new national laboratory information system.
The update also adds content to the International Patient Summary to alert clinicians to critical health conditions and incorporates new SDOH content through Project Gravity, addressing social risk factors such as job insecurity and housing instability.
“Collaboration and demand drive how LOINC expands and evolves,” explains Marjorie Rallins, LOINC’s Executive Director of Medical Data Standards. “We are continuously collaborating with SNOMED International to develop LOINC Ontology, an interoperable solution between LOINC and SNOMED CT.”
LOINC Ontology supports users in deploying different combinations of SNOMED CT and LOINC in healthcare information systems and enables them to meet clinical and regulatory requirements in multiple countries in a single solution.
SNOMED CT is linked to LOINC
Linked together in a complementary manner, SNOMED CT provides the computational framework and LOINC provides clinical, pathological and laboratory observation content in a familiar format.
Rallins explains that version 2.78 of LOINC includes improvements to LOINC to support LOINC Ontology.
“Given the widespread use of LOINC around the world, we are pleased to be partnering with the developers of the International Patient Summary, a global standard for sharing and electronically recording essential patient health information,” she added.
IPS is a snapshot of a patient’s record that can be used by healthcare providers anywhere in the world, regardless of specialty or condition. The new content supports alerts, which are intended to alert clinicians to serious health conditions affecting patients.
Enhanced Interoperability
“If we had unlimited resources, LOINC would be released more frequently,” Rallins said. “Frequent updates give users access to the latest developments and they enhance interoperability.”
She explained that working with international stakeholders presents some logistical challenges due to different time zones and languages.
“However, cooperation among international stakeholders is seen primarily as a strength rather than a challenge,” she said.
She pointed out that collaboration with international companies, clinicians, academics and engineers will provide new sources of knowledge and experience that will significantly enhance the content of LOINC.
“There are differences between health care in the United States and other countries, but 99% of the aspects are the same, so working internationally will help increase the number of collaborators and expand the knowledge to create new rules,” Rallins said.
Nathan Eddy is a healthcare and technology freelancer based in Berlin.
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Twitter: @dropdeaded209
