LOINC® from Regenstrief Institute is issuing its semiannual content update with 1,945 new concepts to help health systems, laboratories and other health organizations exchange medical data. The release contains newly created content based on requests submitted by stakeholders from more than 100 countries.
LOINC version 2.75 is available for download from the LOINC website and via the LOINC Terminology Service using HL7® FHIR®. The updated version includes new, edited and newly mapped concepts in laboratory, clinical, survey and other domains. LOINC has users from nearly every country.
“Issuing these concepts semiannually helps support the exchange and aggregation of clinical results for the benefit of care delivery,” said Marjorie Rallins, DPM, M.S., executive director of LOINC and Health Data Standards. “The users’ ability to download LOINC® or utilize HL7® FHIR® for version 2.75 concepts facilitates the seamless movement of healthcare data.”
Of the new concepts, 1,469 were laboratory-based and 476 were clinical observations and assessments.
The 2023 LOINC conference, set for October 17-20 in Atlanta, Georgia, will cover all the new concepts released in version 2.75. To register and learn more about the four-day conference, visit the LOINC website.
For any inquiries about the version 2.75 release and to have discussions with others in the LOINC community, post the topic, question or concern in the LOINC Community Forum. This platform was recently relaunched with a new, simpler structure.
LOINC, short for Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, is a worldwide standard for identifying health measurements, observations and documents. Created and maintained at Regenstrief Institute, the code system is available to users at no cost. LOINC enables the identification, exchange and collection of data across health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and further emphasized the value of this standard and its impact on data interoperability.
About LOINC®
LOINC® was created in 1994 at Regenstrief Institute to facilitate interoperability in healthcare. There was a growing trend to send clinical data electronically between healthcare entities, a practice that has now become ubiquitous. Today, it contains approximately 101,632 terms for everything from an albumin level to a zygomatic arch X-ray report. For each concept, LOINC contains many other rich details, such as synonyms, units of measure, and carefully crafted descriptions.
About Regenstrief Institute
Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its research scientists are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform clinical practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe.
Sam Regenstrief, a nationally successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute’s research mission.
