Important Recommendations from LOINC for SARS-CoV-2 Codes

Regardless of the LOINC code that is currently being used for SARS CoV-2 , LOINC is strongly recommending that details about the specimen and the test kit along with the primary result be reported.

Specimen details would ideally be reported using the HL7 SPM segment if using v2.5.1 or higher, OBR-15 if using v2.3.x, or the FHIR Specimen resource. If none of these are supported, specimen details can be sent as a separate observation result using LOINC 66746-9 Specimen type.

The test kit name and/or unique identifier would ideally be reported in OBX-17 and OBX-18, respectively. If this is not an option, test kit details can be sent as separate observation results using LOINC 67099-2 Vendor device name and/or 74711-3 Unique device identifier.

If there are any questions, please let us know and we can liaise with LOINC team at RI.