if doctor order just for example “Protein S” without anything else (method like chrom or other) how we could use loinc code to code the order? I searched in RELMA and find all code related to protein S but all has specific method in its properties.
how could we have a code without specific method in this case?
Sorry for the delay. Could you tell us the aspect from which you are coding the physician’s orders? Are there multiple laboratories available for selection? Are you working with a laboratorian who can share information with you? Usually we suggest the laboratory select the LOINC terms appropriate for their testing catalog; it would be very rare for a lab to offer a great many Protein S studies. This initial step helps constrain the physicians’ options. After the result level LOINCs are performed; we have greater clarity on the order level LOINCs available. Single result assays have the same order level LOINC; group tests may have constraints placed on them with order level LOINCs.
I will watch this thread and answer you quickly to help your project advance. We are preparing for the Summer LOINC Conference this Thursday, June 6th. Hope you are registered to listen in through the telecon avenue.
I’m working on a system for exchanging electronic prescriptions of doctors to unspecified laboratories. we planned to use LOINC order code set for physician prescription form and physicians usually don’t want to declare method of most of tests so the problem is there is no LOINC order code for tests like Protein S alone without specifying method!
how we could handle this kind of issues by LOINC guidlines? how other regions that use LOINC for ordering lab tests deal with it?
I apologize again for the delay in communications; it’s been a busy summer.
Laboratories that are set up to accept electronic orders should be familiar with HL7’s Electronic Directory of Services (eDOS) implementation guide. This would be a provision from the laboratories of the actual tests they perform, and the physicians could make their choice.
