We have a comment field on our Sperm Count and on our UA Microscopic and on our glucometer results (as wel as others) - I see the Service Comments (there are 80) but have no idea what they are for? I think I read that we can use them as needed…doesn’t that defeat the purpose - they won’t mean anything to anyone? I need clarification on how to assign a code to the different “Comment” results I have built.
We have “Reviewed By” results built that will post the name of the pathologist that reviewed or reported a particular test result/interpretation. It is just his name. I cannot seem to find a match in LOINC.
We report Lipid Phenotype (not an uncommon test to report) however I can’t find any kind of a match for this.
We have a generic result of “Test Result” for sendouts that are not built in our system so this will have many different types of results based on the order which will vary. How do we code this result?
Thank you ,
Holly Pike
Hi Holly,
Sounds like you’re really digging through the mapping, and getting to the “tough” ones now. Congratulations on your efforts. Other Forum members may add their thoughts as well, but here’s a starter set:
- The Service Comments are intended to serve as you indicate. Their numerical listing does not infer anything else. The one item I caution on is if you’re working in a health information exchange, that another lab may also use the Service Comments, and not for the same items that your lab does. In some instances, it’s the same LOINC code being used across multiple local codes. The HIE team should consider this scenario and develop a mapping guideline for the laboratories to consider. If our client is working towards HIE, we usually opt to look for interpretation comments or other findings notation LOINC codes that may better suit the need. “Annotation comment” is one example.
- If you’ll put “NAME PN PROVIDER” in the search window of RELMA, you’ll find a few options for the question of coding a name field.
- Can you provide example answers of “LIPID PHENOTYPE”? I wondered if a Lipoprotein Pattern might be appropriate, but the answers would confirm this.
- There is a set of sendout codes in LOINC for the purpose you describe. Type “REFERENCE LAB TEST” in RELMA’s search window to see those options.
Have a great day,
Pam
Pam,
Yes I am down to the problem codes…thank you for the responses to my questions…suggesting the search terms to use was a huge help and has allowed me to select a LOINC code for these results.
Holly