Health Informatics
Terminologies were developed to enhance data exchange and empower laboratories to play a part in patient care especially in cases where the treatment process entails more than one stakeholder. Different terminologies are characterized by different strengths and weaknesses. Among the most commonly used terminologies are the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes and the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms. The Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) is a conventional standard for the identification of clinical laboratory observations. One of the benefits of LOINC, therefore, is that it facilitates analysis and the comparison of the laboratory data. LOINC also facilitates effective electronic tests from more than one laboratory through an integration of the tests and the reporting units. LOINC is of significance to the patient as it helps the health care provider coordinate the patient’s care and protect their safety (Bodenreider & Vreeman, 2018). Through LOINC, for example, the doctor is able to compare the various available clinical tests and thus develop more relevant inferences that can serve to accurately evaluate the patient’s needs. A coordinative approach between several laboratory specialists can not only facilitate accurate diagnosis but can also improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. When all of the health care providers have access to the patient’s laboratory data, they each get to have better access to more accurate information and updated information about the patient’s care.
Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms ( SNOMED CT) can be described as a multilingual vocabulary for clinical phraseology used by practitioners for the exchange of electronic health information. One key advantage of SNOMED-CT is that it facilitates early diagnosis of various health issues and an individual or population’s responses to emerging clinical practices (Bodenreider & Vreeman, 2018). Through an exchange of electronic health records as facilitated by SNOMED CT, practitioners are able to improve patient outcomes by avoiding unnecessary tests that could have otherwise been costly to a patient and time-consuming. Both SNOMED CT and LOINC, therefore, are integral in facilitating a coordinative approach in patient care hence improving patient outcomes.
One major difference between The Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) and Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms ( SNOMED CT) is that LOINC is used to encode data as presented from the laboratory. With a wide range of entries, it also facilitates various mappings for a single analysis. SNOMED CT, on the other hand, contains relatively few analyses (Bietenbeck, Boeker, & Schulz, 2018). Through a formal composition mechanism, SNOMED CT also facilitates the representation of measurements by what can be described as a post-coordinated expression that can be compared to LOINC codes. LOINC, therefore, has what can be described as a more practical approach characterized by codes hence mapping is easy. SNOMED-CT, on the other hand, is more complex in its logic-based axioms that facilitates the specification of even non-numeric values (Bietenbeck, Boeker, & Schulz, 2018). LOINC also serves to offers a higher level of detail through different codes can be linked to the same clinical test. Through implicit hierarchies, it facilitates the combination if medical equivalent evaluation. SNOMED CT, on the contrary, is more intricate due to the difficult post-coordination model. While using SNOMED CT all parts of the documentation are reflected by one terminology standard. SNOMED CT provides specific codes, particularly for non-numerical values like substances or microorganisms. Its main advantage over LOINC is that it provides basic codes for the identification of uncertainties.
References
Bietenbeck, A., Boeker, M., & Schulz, S. (2018). NPU, LOINC, and SNOMED CT: a comparison of terminologies for laboratory results reveals individual advantages and a lack of possibilities to encode interpretive comments. LaboratoriumsMedizin, 42(6), 267-275.
Bodenreider, O., Cornet, R., & Vreeman, D. J. (2018). Recent developments in clinical terminologies—SNOMED CT, LOINC, and RxNorm. Yearbook of medical informatics, 27(1), 129.
HealthIT.gov. Benefits of Health IT. https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-basics/benefits-health-it