Logical+Observation+Identifiers+Names+and+Codes+-+LOINC

Term: Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes - LOINC

Description: The LOINC is a system that was created by a non-profit medical research organization with help from Indiana University. They started in 1994 with a goal in mind to standardize the way codes are sent from laboratories. With advancement in technology, they saw the need to have a organized way to send data across to hospitals, physician's offices and different labs. The main purpose of the LOINC is to regulate the different types of names and codes within the laboratories and clinics. These results would be very hard to understand lab to lab without this system. This allows many different labs to form a single database for easier research and readable results. These databases are free of charge to anyone who wants to looks at them as well.

Aplications: The aplications of LIONC can save time and money in many different fields. Any organization that wants results in a easy to read HL7 message can access this by using the LIONC system. This easy to read and share data is very helpful in the Healthcare systems by allowing hospitals, physicians and other practice systems to be able to agree on a stander coding system. A key feature the LOINC system has to offer is that it is very effective in flagging unwated duplicate data. This helps not waste storage of the backup data allowing for more room for other data or just a less cost for the company.

Web Resources: http://loinc.org/ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/loinc_main.html http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/49/4/624?ijkey=oUwNonbF33rao&keytype=ref&siteid=clinchem

Related Terminology: [|Health Level Seven(HL7]), Databases, observation identifier field, Digital Imaging and [|Communication in Medicine (DICOM)]

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