Would it make sense to expand the LOINC data model to include fields for allowed HL7 data types? LOINC coded clinical observation data is most commonly transported and stored using the primary HL7 standards including V2 Messaging, CDA, and FHIR. Some HL7 standards have included guidance on the mapping from LOINC scale types to HL7 data types, but this hasn’t been specific to individual observation terms. So for example the LOINC quantitative (Qn) scale type might map to the HL7 V2 Messaging “NM” (numeric) or “DTM” (date time) data type depending on the specific term. In order to ensure consistent LOINC implementations it would be helpful to have guidance on this within LOINC itself.
