Laboratory Data Management and Interoperation Working Group

Scope and Purpose

Support of the information management cycle for the clinical laboratory requires interoperable terminology which will support the semantic requirements of the EHR data model for orderables, performables and resultables central to the clinical laboratory mission of responding to clinical requests for laboratory and pathology patient observation results. 

Orderables are the laboratory testing requests of the clinical community, which include defining elements for how the patient is prepared, what specimens are to be obtained by the laboratory and what are the clinical protocols involved in specimen accrual that effect how results are interpreted.  Performables include the technical methods employed by the laboratorian in specimen preparation and handling and/or conduct of the testing, as well as the standard units and codes employed for results.  The Performable specifies the laboratory processes selected by the laboratory to meet the expectations of the order.  Resultables have a 1:many cardinality relative to the Orderable depending upon the details of the orderable request and the reporting requirements of the Performable.  Resultables include the preparation and protocol details specified in the Orderable that are necessary to results interpretation as well as any technical detail of the Performable which the laboratorian considers necessary for interoperation of results.  In a simple and common case such as: 381000004108|Glucose [Mass/volume] in Serum or plasma after fasting (observable entity the Orderable and Resultable may be served by a single SNOMED CT Observable entity if the laboratorian decides that further testing details are clinically irrelevant.