Introduction

In order to develop guidance the guidelines in the following section, an environmental scan was conducted of different use case involving the use of SNOMED CT and/or LOINC

The use cases considered included:

Practical clinical scenarios in which SNOMED CT and/or LOINC are currently used:
- Bio-surveillance (animal/human health) networks.
- Clinical laboratory reporting (mostly Microbiology area).
- Infectious diseases for lab order entries.
Healthcare information standards, that require or enable the use of SNOMED CT and/or LOINC.

Summary of Results

The summary information on this page is based on analysis of use cases and guidelines identified during an environmental scan of current usage of LOINC and SNOMED CT in clinical laboratory systems and related healthcare systems.

summarizes recommendations for use of either SNOMED CT or LOINC in particular data elements. The recommendations are subdivided into categories based on particular scenarios or contexts of use. provides a graphical representation of the current use of SNOMED CT and LOINC for representing particular types of information, as identified in the environmental scan.

Summary of use of SNOMED CT and LOINC in different data elements and scenarios

DATA ELEMENTS	SCENARIO
DATA ELEMENTS	Bio-surveillance(human/animal)	Lab reporting (micro, infect diseases)	CIMI
Vital signs Name (Observation name)	LOINC	---	SNOMED CT
Vital signs Result (Observation value)	SNOMED CT	---	SNOMED CT
Laboratory Orders	LOINC	LOINC	---
Laboratory Test Results Name (Identifier)	LOINC	LOINC	LOINC
Laboratory Test Results no Quantitative (Value)	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT
Specimens (Specimen Types, Specimen Source Types, …)	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT
Animal Species/Breeds	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT
Procedures (Laboratory Methods)	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT	SNOMED CT

Using LOINC with SNOMED CT > 5.1 Current Use of SNOMED CT and/or LOINC > worddavf722ba6d30ecd19083562d408441bafb.png

Current usage of SNOMED CT and LOINC for different use cases