Revised LOINC 2.54 Panels and Forms File re-published
In our post-release review, we detected a few problems with the structure of the Panels and Forms File. That file contains three worksheets (FORMS, LOINCS, and ANSWERS). The LOINCS worksheet is a subset of the main LOINC Table file and is supposed to have the exact same fields.
Unfortunately, the Panels and Forms File we published on 2015 12 21 had two main issues affecting the LOINCS worksheet:
- The LOINCS.DefinitionDescription field had the old name of LOINCS.COMMENTS
- Three of our new fields were missing:
- LOINCS.PanelType
- LOINCS.AssociatedObservations
- LOINCS.AskAtOrderEntry
There were no problems with the data in any of the other fields (except for the missing columns).
We try really hard to make sure things like this don’t happen, but this one slipped through the cracks. We’re very sorry about it and know that it stinks for those of you who already downloaded it.
The Panels and Forms File is published as a standalone file and is included in our LOINC and RELMA Complete Package. We have now updated all of the places where these are published by Regenstrief. Since these fixes were structural in nature, the file version has not changed. (That is, we did not change things to LOINC 2.55 just because of this error…everything is still LOINC 2.54).
If you downloaded either of these files between 2015 12 21 and 2015 12 31 and plan on using the LOINCs worksheet, we recommend that you re-download the file again. We have sent an email notice to everyone who downloaded them from the LOINC website during that timeframe.
Sorry for the trouble, but still…
Happy LOINCing in 2016!