Quality assurance of LOINC mapping for laboratory tests - a local experience with people, process and technology

In Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA), the Electronic Patient Record (ePR) module of Clinical Management System, implemented since 2003, bring together all the information from various clinical module and hospitals into a single corporate wide, longitudinal, integrated record. Nowadays there are billions of laboratory test results stored in the web-based ePR where laboratory results being shared with the HA clinicians for patient care. In order to produce interoperable laboratory data in the ePR, the HA adopts LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) as the reference standard for laboratory tests. Every local test codes have been mapped with LOINC code where possible. Thus, the accuracy of LOINC mapping for laboratory tests in the HA is imperative. This paper describes a quality assurance program of LOINC mapping for laboratory tests conducted in 2011/12. With the use of right people, right process and right technology, we reviewed over 28,000 local test codes and there are around 2,400 distinct LOINC concepts mapped and defined in the system.