ValueSet Definition for Quality of Life Assessment: LOINC Code Reference

Details

This document is a reference page for an FHIR ValueSet designed for assessing specific Quality of Life metrics. Published by the HL7 Patient Care WG Steward, this ValueSet was provided under version 20210922. The included group of LOINC codes (e.g., 64438-5 'How do you describe your current health', 64441-9 'shortness of breath in the past 3 months') corresponds to survey items designed to capture symptoms and activity limitations, particularly for patients with respiratory diseases. These data points go beyond mere diagnostic information, enabling the quantitative assessment of specific difficulties faced by patients in their daily lives (e.g., difficulty climbing stairs, fatigue, sleep disturbance). This is crucial for comprehensive outcome measurement indicators in telemedicine and chronic disease management, serving as an essential information infrastructure for developing patient-centered care plans in Japan's regional healthcare collaboration and PHR/EHR systems. Technically, this ValueSet references LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes), a standardized code system for observation items. This allows for the exchange and aggregation of common 'Quality of Life' data across different EHR systems and medical institutions. Being defined on the FHIR standard, this represents a concrete implementation example for international healthcare data interoperability.