LOINC® version 2.76 is available for download from the LOINC website and via the LOINC Terminology Service using HL7® FHIR®
Data quality and consistency are of utmost importance to LOINC. After version 2.75 was released in August, we were notified by members of the LOINC community about errors in numerous concepts added in that release.
We quickly confirmed the issues and notified users of a forthcoming Hotfix. In the weeks since we have diligently worked to make corrections and double check all other additions and revisions introduced in 2.75. The result is this new 2.76 Hotfix release.
Version 2.76 does not introduce any new LOINC concepts. It merely fixes the erroneous values. A full list of the changes to 196 concepts is available in the LOINC Release Notes and corresponding change files located in the 2.76 download.
During this unplanned release cycle we asked our volunteer translators to contribute new translations for concepts which were removed in 2.75 as part of the semi-quantitative and respiratory system specimen transitions. Version 2.76 adds updated translations for seven language dialects.
New safeguards
We continually refine our processes to establish accurate terminology concepts which adhere to intensely rigid guidelines.
Since the early days of LOINC, our development work has included a thorough quality assurance (QA) review by third parties. After our latest Hotfix release in February 2017 with version 2.59, we instituted numerous automated checks, a tremendous step forward for data integrity. Additionally we manually validate each file during our release procedures, following numerous criteria.
This current Hotfix shows we have room for improvement. We are working now to expand all our checks. We will be developing new requirements in our terminology development interface to prevent many of the specific errors which necessitated this Hotfix.
As always, we welcome feedback on our work. If you identify issues with any LOINC concept, please contact us as soon as possible.