Ministry of Health Reveals 5,050 Taiwan-Specific LOINC Crosswalk: Building a National Standard Language for Medical Testing and Paving the Way for AI

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The project was launched by the MOH in 2025, involving dozens of hospitals and 154 experts. Its primary goal is to map Taiwan's commonly used National Health Insurance (NHI) testing codes to the international standard LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes). LOINC serves as a global standard for exchanging data across different medical institutions, providing a common language for test names and codes. However, its vast database size and the fact that a single test may require multiple codes depending on the specimen type or measurement method posed significant challenges. Furthermore, Taiwan's reliance on varied hospital systems (LIS/HIS) and NHI codes exacerbated data inconsistency. The MOH developed this comprehensive crosswalk to solve these issues. Experts systematically analyzed all subsidized testing items, comparing details like test purpose, specimen type, and measurement methods to assign appropriate LOINC codes. This resulted in the 5,050 Taiwan-specific LOINC crosswalk table. Crucially, the MOH did not stop at just a code list. They also developed an auxiliary mapping platform and API conversion module supporting FHIR format, conducting integration tests with major domestic HIS/LIS vendors. This allows hospitals to rapidly transition their existing data into LOINC and FHIR compliant formats without starting from scratch. This standardization effort is vital for more than just efficient data exchange; it accelerates the application of data in critical public health areas, such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and pre-screening for cancer drugs. By establishing this unified mechanism, the MOH builds a foundational infrastructure that supports clinical decision support, precision medicine, and advanced medical AI applications across Taiwan.