Current versions of LOINC and RELMA released June 30, 2011.
New Features
New LOINC Content
LOINC version 2.36 contains 65,004 terms, an increase of 3,749 since the December 2010 version. That’s our largest batch yet! Approximately 1,920 terms have been edited. A total of 1,655 terms have been deprecated. One of the highlights of this release is a large bolus of new PhenX terms. We also continue to work closely with the ACLA in the development of common tests and order sets.
Planned Changes to Database/Table Structure in Next Release
We are planning on making a number of changes to the LOINC database structure in the next public release (est. December 2011). The proposed changes are listed in the table below. If you have questions or concerns, please send your comments to [email protected].
 field | action | reason |
|---|---|---|
| LOINC_NUM | Increase size to 10 characters | Enable support for many more LOINC numbers |
| RELAT_NMS | Delete | This field is obsolete. The contents have moved to our part-based synonymy and stored in RELATEDNAMES2 field. |
| DT_LAST_CH | Rename to DATE_LAST_CHANGED | Change datatype from string to date. Name consistency and data integrity. |
| ANSWERLIST | Delete | This field is obsolete. The contents have moved to a table-based answer list structure. |
| SCOPE | Delete | This field is obsolete (and was not ever used). |
| IPCC_UNITS | Delete | This field is obsolete. |
| REFERENCE | Delete | This field is obsolete. The contents have moved to a table-based reference information structure. |
| EXACT_CMP_SY | Delete | This field is obsolete. The contents have moved to the Parts table. |
| FINAL | Delete | Internal use only field. |
| SETROOT | Delete | This field is obsolete. Panel and hierarchical relationships are stored in a separate structure. |
| PANELELEMENTS | Delete | This field is obsolete. Panel and hierarchical relationships are stored in a separate structure. |
| INPC_PERCENTAGE | Delete | This field is obsolete. It has been superceded by the COMMON_TEST_RANK field that represents a more robust common test list described at http://loinc.org/usage |
| DEFINITION_DESCRIPTION_HELP | Delete | This field is obsolete. The contents have moved to a table-based reference information structure. |
New RELMA Features
Auto Mapper is Now Available “On Demand” from the Search Screens
- In the last release, we significantly improved the Intelligent Mapper function within RELMA that returns a ranked list of candidate LOINC codes for each local term in your set. Well now we’ve made that function available both the Mapping Screen and Simple Search Screen. This allows you to have RELMA guess the “best LOINCs” for your local test name or search string. Of course it works best when you have replaced idiosyncratic abbreviations and have units of measure where appropriate. You have the choice of selecting a “Lab” or “Clinical” auto mapper that employ different logic for these domains. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think!
New Top 2000+ Common Test List Drives the Common Lab Results Restriction
- We created an empirically-based list of the most common LOINC result codes for laboratories, practices, researchers, and others who wish to map their laboratory test codes to universal LOINC codes. This list contains 2017 most commonly reported LOINC codes that represent about 98% of the test volume carried by three large organizations that mapped all of their laboratory tests to LOINC codes. The Top 2000 Lab Results value set ranking is now displayed on the mapping screen and the simple search screen in the “Rank” column. When you enable the “Common lab restrictions” search limit, RELMA returns only results contained in the Top 2000+ list.
- The origins of the Top 2000+ Lab Results and a Mapper’s Guide are described in detail at http://loinc.org/usage.
Additional Information Requested and Other Changes for LOINC Submissions
- We have added new fields to the LOINC Proposal form allowing users to send more applicable information related to new terms. Therefore, new fields have been added to collect additional information about the individual terms being requested and the submission as a whole. For more information, please see http://loinc.org/submissions/new-terms
Other Changes
- RELMA will now display images from the LOINC server on some of the detail pages. Since these images are stored on the Internet, you must be connected to the Internet to see the images.
- Answer list details for external lists can now contain a link to the external list and when the answer list was last updated.
- Column headers on the mapping screen, simple search screen, and Part search screen are now the same as their Lucene field names. For example, you can now search on [ ExUnits:mg ], where “ExUnits” is the header for the example units column.
- The Tools | Find Local Terms Mapped to Deprecated/Discouraged LOINCs screen has been altered. The “Replacement LOINC” section now gives the user access to all the replacement LOINC codes for the current mapping. The navigation of the replacement LOINC codes is made possible by the familiar first [ |<< ], previous [ < ], next [ > ], and last [ >>| ] buttons. The Comment field has also been added to the “Replacement LOINC” section. This field explains the rational for using this replacement term. The navigation in the “Local Term” section has also been changed. It now uses the familiar first [ |<< ], previous [ < ], next [ > ], and last [ >>| ] buttons.
- Lucene proximity and fuzzy searches are now supported on the mapping screen and the simple search screen.
- The Lucene score is now displayed on the mapping screen and the simple search screen in the “Score” column.
- Double-clicking on the simple search screen, Part search screen, and hierarchy trees now displays the details for row where you double-clicked.
- LOINC Part quotients, like “Creatine kinase.MB/Creatine kinase.total”, are now displayed in the Part section on the details screen.
- You now directly edit the column width during Configure Grid, rather than entering the width into a separate dialog box.
- The main menu screen has been revamped. The “View HIPAA attachments” option has been replaced with a “Propose new LOINC term” option. You can still access the HIPAA attachements from the HIPAA menu or the “Review Panels, Forms & Surveys” menu option.
- Part Quotients (like “Face upper/Face all”) are now displayed separately in the Parts section of the LOINC Details form so you can view reference information (description, etc.) specific to that Quotient
- Mouseovers for deprecated and discouraged LOINCs can now show the status reason when present.
- There are several new experimental fields on the mapping screen and simple search screen — LocalCode and LocalName (currently empty), PanelParentName (the LOINC number and Long Common Name of parent panels for this LOINC), and AnswerListName and Answers (the name of the answer list for this LOINC and its answers). These fields start off invisible, as they may not be commonly useful and are time-consuming to display in this version of RELMA.