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��Laboratory Order Only Concepts

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Background

Rationale

    • People have requested the creation of “grouper concepts” for the LOINC SNOMED Ontology
    • The SNOMED community has a need for laboratory order concepts
      • There has been a long-standing debate about procedures as orderables versus ordering an observation to be made
      • There are many situations where the result LOINC codes are too specific for use in ordering

The need

    • LOINC codes that are suitable for ordering and also to act as grouper codes for the LOINC SNOMED Ontology

Approach

    • As a first step, create ”order only” codes that are are unique combinations of component, system (specimen), and a new general kind-of-property called “measurement”
    • We will probably make additional order only concepts in the future.

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Caution!

  • Making these more generic concepts is an entirely new policy
  • These new “order only” concepts should never, ever, be sent as result codes
  • We will need to communicate and emphasize the correct use of these new concepts to prevent their misuse

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More details

    • Examples of the new order only lab concepts:
      • Serum glucose measurement
      • Urine glucose measurement
      • Serum Aspergillus sp Ab measurement
      • Body fluid Rheumatoid factor measurement
      • CSF Amylase measurement
    • The new codes will be parents of the more detailed result concepts
      • Serum glucose measurement
        • Serum glucose mass concentration
        • Serum glucose substance concentration
        • Serum glucose^pre dose substance concentration
    • These concepts will be in their own “LabOrders” class in the LOINC database, to help distinguish them from result codes

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More details (part 2)

    • There are over 25,000 combinations of component and system
    • We are making new codes for the 2090 items where the new concept subsumes 3 or more concepts
    • We are planning to have these concepts added in the next release of LOINC and in the next release of the LOINC Ontology

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The kinds-of-properties that are considered “measurements”

ACnc

AFr

ARat

CAct

CCnc

CCnt

CRat

CSub

EntLen

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LaCnc

LnCnc

Mass

MCnc

MCnt

MRat

MRto

MSCnc

MSRat

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Naric

NCnc

NFr

Prctl

PrThr

Ratio

SatFr

SCnc

SCnt

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SRat

SRto

Sub

ThreshNum

Titr

TmMCnc

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