LOINC is published by the Regenstrief Institute and is the copyright holder. Translations into different languages are produced by "adopters" in different countries and passed on to the Regenstrief Institute. The BfArM provides the translations of LOINC for Germany. Currently, about 12,000 terms have been translated. These are made available by the Regenstrief Institute in the download area under the term "Linguistic variant deDE15" in half-yearly releases. The translations are also integrated into the Regenstrief LOINC Mapping Assistant, which is used in particular to transfer terms from local laboratory applications into LOINC (mapping).

For German-speaking countries there are

• Translations from Austria, adapted to the needs of the electronic health record in Austria published by ELGA GmbH (Elektronische Gesundheitsakte Österreich) (available as "linguisticVariant deAT24") and
• translations from Germany that support the needs of use in Germany (to be obtained as "lingusticVariant deDE15").

• Download the LOINC tables including translation for Germany (LinguisticVariantdeDE15) (Free registration required)
• Download of Regenstrief LOINC Mapping Assistant (RELMA) (Free registration required)

On the development of translations of LOINC in Germany (Release Notes):

• In 2010, a value set of LOINC identifiers was compiled for the first time by experts from the laboratory, clinical, research and care sectors in Germany and Austria. These approximately 11,000 frequently used examination procedures were translated into German and quality-assured by 2012 (Release 2.34).
• Since 2020, this ValueSet was continuously expanded according to the requirements from Germany and adapted to current wishes (Releases 2.68 and 2.69).
• In February 2022 (Release 2.72), the translations were brought up to date and adapted to current language use in the laboratory. To support users in the laboratory, specialists and patients, abbreviations were converted into meaningful terms. In addition, a new display name (LongCommonName) was introduced as an alternative designation that can be used for displaying laboratory data and exchanging data between laboratories. The scope of the translated data set was expanded to include requirements from the preliminary work for the MIO Laboratory Findings. In addition, translations are now available for LOINC codes that are used for data exchange of research data for COVID-19 findings for clinic and laboratory (GermanConsensusDataset, GECCO). LOINC translations intended for cross-border data exchange for the patient summary file under § 219d SGB V have also been made available.

If you need further German translations of LOINC identifiers or would like to collaborate in the review of the German translation, please contact us via LOINC