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This guide provides advice on combined use of SNOMED CT and LOINC.
This guide should be read by anyone involved in deciding the ways in which different terminologies including SNOMED CT and LOINC are used within a clinical information system, laboratory information or any associated systems, specifications or standard. These people fall into two broad categories:
These people need:
This guide provides:
These people need:
This guide provides:
In July 2013, IHTSDO and Regenstrief Institute Inc. (RII) signed a long-term agreement
to begin cooperative work linking their leading global health care terminologies:
Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, or LOINC, and SNOMED Clinical Terms.
This agreement will help improve safety, functionality and interoperability for the
rapidly growing number of clinicians who manage and exchange health data with electronic
medical records.
The agreement builds on and complements the strengths of both organizations and terminologies.
The cooperative work will link the rich clinical semantics of SNOMED CT to LOINC codes,
which provide extensive coverage of laboratory tests and some types of clinical measurements.
By aligning how the two terminologies represent the attributes of tests and some measurements,
this collaboration will provide users a common framework within which to use LOINC
and SNOMED CT.
Like IHTSDO, Regenstrief is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to enhance the
effective delivery of health care. The organizations believe it makes sense to work
together to limit duplication of effort and focus limited resources on enhancements
that serve the practical needs of the growing number of users of LOINC and SNOMED
CT.
The agreement defines a long-term, broadly scoped, working relationship. To underline
the long-term commitment of both organizations, the new agreement will be in force
for at least 10 years. The organizations' immediate focus is laboratory testing as
well as some basic clinical measurements, and they intend to expand into other areas
of mutual interest in the future.
As part of the cooperation agreement between IHTSDO and RII it was agreed that the
organizations would develop joint guidance on ways in which SNOMED CT and LOINC should
be used together. This guidance document is limited to the scope of the agreement
and thus principally covers laboratory investigations along with vital signs and anthropomorphic
measurements.
The guide starts with short introductions to SNOMED CT and LOINC followed by an overview
of the cooperative work to bring them closer. These sections identify the potential
benefits of using SNOMED CT and LOINC together.
The remainder of the guide consists of advice on how to make effective combined use
of SNOMED CT and LOINC in ways that recognize the scope and strengths of the two terminology
resources. The guidance also considers ways to deliver added-value by using the links
between SNOMED CT and LOINC developed as part of the cooperative work.