Unified Medical Language System | |
Web site:
http://www.loinc.org/
Authority
The Logical Observation Identifier Names and Codes terminology (LOINC®) was developed and is maintained by the Regenstrief Institute,
Inc., a non-profit medical research organization associated with Indiana University.
Purpose
The purpose of LOINC is to facilitate the exchange and pooling of clinical or laboratory results for clinical care, outcomes management, claims
attachment, and research by providing a set of universal codes and names. LOINC codes allow users to merge clinical results from many sources into
one database for patient care, clinical research, or management.
Description
LOINC provides formal names and standardized codes for laboratory and other clinical observations. The data cover laboratory terminology, vital
signs, hemodynamics intake/output, EKG, obstetric ultrasound, cardiac echo, urologic, imaging, gastroendoscopic procedures, pulmonary ventilator
management, and selected survey instruments.
Laboratory LOINC code translations are available from the Regenstrief Institute in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. German, French and
Italian versions are available for the 3,800 most commonly used European terms. The current French translation is from Switzerland and includes
short names only.
Metathesaurus Scope
The Metathesaurus representation of LOINC also includes expanded abbreviations as well as parts data and the multi-axial hierarchy used by the
Regenstrief LOINC Mapping Assistant (RELMA) tool.
Audience
Update Frequency
LOINC is updated twice per year.
Metathesaurus Update Frequency
LOINC is an updated source in each Metathesaurus release.
Sites Consulted
Last reviewed: 20 November 2008
Last updated: 20 November 2008
First published: 20 November 2008
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed