We are having some issues where Labcorp is sending the Loinc codes in "Pre-Release’ status. This is causing some issues in our error log. Should they be using the ‘Pre-release’ codes before it is published and available for organization to update their system? How are other organizations handling this issue? The two codes are
• 88293-6
• 88294-4
The publication and use of “pre-release” LOINC codes is discussed in the LOINC Users’ Guide section 11.4. Here is the most relevant portion:
It is understood that providing these codes back to the requestor and listing them on the LOINC website is done for informational purposes only, with the additional caveat that the concept could change prior to inclusion in a public release.The public should not be expected to have adopted such “pre-released” LOINC codes until they appear in a formal
release. Yet, such an approach is valuable because it facilitates the inclusion of new codes in implementation
guides and other documents and systems that have their own, often lengthy, development cycles.
Thus, Labcorps use of the pre-release codes with its clients is a business-to-business decision, but there should not be the general expectation that downstream users should be ready to handle prerelease codes until they are published in an official release.