LOINC and RELMA Terms of Use

Copyright Notice and License

 

The LOINC® codes, LOINC® table (regardless of format), LOINC® Release Notes, LOINC® Changes File, and LOINC® Users' Guide are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Committee. All rights reserved.

The RELMA® program, RELMA® database and associated search index files (subject to the copyright above with respect to the LOINC® codes and LOINC® table included therein), RELMA® Community Mapping Feature Database, RELMA® Release Notes, and RELMA® Users' Manual are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

The LOINC® panels and forms file, LOINC® document ontology file, and the LOINC® hierarchies file (subject to the copyright above with respect to the LOINC® codes and LOINC® table to the extent included therein), are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

LOINC® and RELMA® are registered United States trademarks of Regenstrief Institute, Inc.

Permission is hereby granted in perpetuity, without payment of license fees or royalties, to use, copy, or distribute the RELMA® program, RELMA® Users' Manual, RELMA® Release Notes, RELMA® database and associated search index files, LOINC® codes, LOINC® Users' Guide, LOINC® table (in all formats in which it is distributed by Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee), LOINC® Release Notes, LOINC® Changes File, LOINC® panels and forms file, LOINC® document ontology file, and LOINC® hierarchies file (collectively, the "Licensed Materials") for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, subject to the following terms and conditions:

1.To prevent the dilution of the purpose of the LOINC codes and LOINC table of providing a definitive standard for identifying clinical information in electronic reports, users shall not use any of the Licensed Materials for the purpose of developing or promulgating a different standard for identifying patient observations, such as laboratory test results; other diagnostic service test results; clinical observations and measurements; reports produced by clinicians and diagnostic services about patients; panels, forms, and collections that define aggregations of these observations; and orders for these entities in electronic reports and messages.

2.If the user elects to use the RELMA program, users receive the full RELMA database and associated search index files with the RELMA program, including the LOINC table and other database tables comprising the RELMA database. In addition to its use with the RELMA program, users may use the LOINC table by itself and may modify the LOINC table as permitted herein. Users may not use or modify the other database tables from the RELMA database or the associated search index files except in conjunction with their authorized use of the RELMA program, unless prior written permission is granted by the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. To request written permission, please contact loinc@regenstrief.org. The RELMA program also provides access to certain internet-based content copyrighted by Regenstrief Institute, Inc. No additional permission to modify or distribute this internet-based content is granted through the user’s use of the RELMA program.

3.The RELMA program also includes the RELMA Community Mappings feature and access to the RELMA Community Mappings feature database. The accuracy and completeness of the information in the RELMA Community Mappings feature is not verified by Regenstrief Institute, Inc. or the LOINC Committee. Access to the RELMA Community Mappings feature is enabled by a user authentication from the RELMA login screen. If a user wishes to opt out of the RELMA Community Mappings feature, they can simply use RELMA without logging in.
    a.By using the RELMA Community Mappings feature, users agree as follows:
        i.Users may not copy, distribute, or share access to the information provided by the RELMA Community Mappings feature.
        ii.Users accept the risk of using the information provided by the RELMA Community Mappings feature, recognize that such information is submitted by other users, and understand that neither Regenstrief Institute, Inc. nor the LOINC Committee are liable for the information provided by the RELMA Community Mappings feature.
        iii.Regenstrief Institute, Inc. may contact users regarding:
                1.Use of the RELMA Community Mappings feature;
                2.Submission requests for additional information; and
                3.Any mapping submissions that the user makes to the RELMA Community Mappings feature database;
        iv.Others may contact user about submissions made to the RELMA Community Mappings feature database;
        v.User will make reasonable efforts to submit user’s mappings back to the RELMA Community Mappings feature database, which may contain the following information (as applicable):
                1.Local battery/panel/test code
                2.Local battery/panel/test name/description
                3.Units of Measure
                4.LOINC code to which it is mapped
                5.Date of mapping
                6.Language of test names
                7.Version of LOINC used to do the mapping
                8.Contact information;
        vi.If a user submits mappings on behalf of an organization, the user represents that the user has the authority to agree to these terms on behalf of user’s organization.
        vii.If a user submits mappings back to the RELMA Community Mappings feature database, then the user hereby grants, on behalf of themselves and user’s organization, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. a non-exclusive license without payment or fees to submitted mappings in perpetuity for purposes related to LOINC, RELMA, and Regenstrief Institute Inc.’s mission, including, but not limited to:
                1.Making information publicly available;
                2.Performing aggregate analysis;
                3.Conducting and publishing research that does not identify user or user’s organization by name;
                4.Developing and enhancing LOINC and associated software tools.

4.Users shall not change the meaning of any of the LOINC codes. Users shall not change the name of, or any contents of, any fields in the LOINC table. Users may add new fields to the LOINC table to attach additional information to existing LOINC records. Users shall not change the content or structure of the LOINC document ontology file or the LOINC panels and forms from the LOINC panels and forms file, but may notify the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. of any potential inconsistencies or corrections needed by contacting loinc@regenstrief.org.

5.Users shall not use the LOINC parts or LOINC part hierarchies in any manner except as they are presented in the Licensed Materials (and/or in other formats of distribution approved by Regenstrief Institute, Inc.) to organize or be constituents of LOINC terms. LOINC parts and LOINC part hierarchies shall neither be used as a “standalone” terminology nor apart from LOINC terms. User understands that LOINC parts and LOINC part hierarchies are subject to change, addition, modification, or deletion, and are not strictly managed under the same policies as LOINC terms.

6.A user may delete records from the LOINC table to deal with the user's local requirements. A user also may add new records to the LOINC table to deal with the users' local requirements, provided that if new records are added, any new entry in the LOINC_NUM field of such new records must contain a leading alphabetic "X" so that the new codes and records cannot be confused with existing LOINC codes or new LOINC codes as they are defined in later releases of the LOINC table. Records deleted or added by users to deal with local requirements are not reflected in the official LOINC table maintained by the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee. Users must also make reasonable efforts to submit requests to LOINC for new records to cover observations that are not found in the LOINC table in order to minimize the need for X-codes.

7.LOINC codes and other information from the LOINC table may be used in electronic messages for laboratory test results and clinical observations such as HL7 ORU messages, without the need to include this Copyright Notice and License or a reference thereto in the message (and without the need to include all fields required by Section 9 hereof). When the LOINC code (from the LOINC_NUM field) is included in the message, users are encouraged, but not required, to include the corresponding LOINC short name (from the SHORTNAME field) or the LOINC long common name (from the LONG_COMMON_NAME field) in the message if the message provides a place for a text name representation of the code.

8.Users may make and distribute an unlimited number of copies of the Licensed Materials. Each copy thereof must include this Copyright Notice and License, and must include the appropriate version number of the Licensed Materials if the Licensed Materials have a version number, or the release date if the Licensed Materials do not have a version number. This Copyright Notice and License must appear on every printed copy of the LOINC table. Where the Licensed Materials are distributed on a fixed storage medium (such as CD-ROM), a printed copy of this Copyright Notice and License must be included on or with the storage medium, and a text file containing this information also must be stored on the storage medium in a file called "license.txt". Where the Licensed Materials are distributed via the Internet, this Copyright Notice and License must be accessible on the same Internet page from which the Licensed Materials are available for download. This Copyright Notice and License must appear verbatim on every electronic or printed copy of the RELMA Users' Manual and the LOINC Users' Guide. The RELMA Users' Manual and the LOINC Users' Guide may not be modified, nor may derivative works of the RELMA Users' Manual or LOINC Users' Guide be created, without the prior written permission of the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. To request written permission, please contact loinc@regenstrief.org. The Regenstrief Institute retains the right to approve any modification to, or derivative work of, the RELMA Users' Manual or the LOINC Users' Guide.

9.Subject to Section 1 and the other restrictions hereof, users may incorporate portions of the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and LOINC hierarchies file into another master term dictionary (e.g. laboratory test definition database), or software program for distribution outside of the user's corporation or organization, provided that any such master term dictionary or software program includes the following fields reproduced in their entirety from the LOINC table: LOINC_NUM, COMPONENT, PROPERTY, TIME_ASPCT, SYSTEM, SCALE_TYP, METHOD_TYP, STATUS, and SHORTNAME. Users are also required to either: (1) include the EXTERNAL_COPYRIGHT_NOTICE or (2) delete the rows that include third party copyrighted content (e.g., third party survey instruments and answers). If third party content is included, users are required to comply with any such third party copyright license terms. Users are encouraged, but not required, to also include the RelatedNames2 and the LONG_COMMON_NAME in any such database. Further description of these fields is provided in Appendix A of the LOINC Users' Guide. Every copy of the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and/or LOINC hierarchies file incorporated into or distributed in conjunction with another database or software program must include the following notice:

"This product includes all or a portion of the LOINC® table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and/or LOINC hierarchies file, or is derived from one or more of the foregoing, subject to a license from Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Your use of the LOINC table, LOINC codes, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and LOINC hierarchies file also is subject to this license, a copy of which is available at http://loinc.org/terms-of-use. The current complete LOINC table, LOINC Users' Guide, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and LOINC hierarchies file are available for download at http://loinc.org. The LOINC table and LOINC codes are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Committee. The LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and LOINC hierarchies file are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. THE LOINC TABLE (IN ALL FORMATS), LOINC PANELS AND FORMS FILE, LOINC DOCUMENT ONTOLOGY FILE, AND LOINC HIERARCHIES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LOINC® is a registered United States trademark of Regenstrief Institute, Inc. A small portion of the LOINC table may include content (e.g., survey instruments) that is subject to copyrights owned by third parties. Such content has been mapped to LOINC terms under applicable copyright and terms of use. Notice of such third party copyright and license terms would need to be included if such content is included."

If the master term dictionary or software program containing the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and/or LOINC hierarchies file is distributed with a printed license, this statement must appear in the printed license. Where the master term dictionary or software program containing the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and/or LOINC hierarchies file is distributed on a fixed storage medium, a text file containing this information also must be stored on the storage medium in a file called "LOINC_short_license.txt". Where the master term dictionary or software program containing the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, and/or LOINC hierarchies file is distributed via the Internet, this information must be accessible on the same Internet page from which the product is available for download.
1.Subject to Section 1 and the other restrictions hereof, users may incorporate portions of the LOINC table and LOINC panels and forms file into another document (e.g., an implementation guide or other technical specification) for distribution outside of the user's corporation or organization, subject to these terms:
a.Every copy of the document that contains portions of the LOINC table or LOINC panels and forms file must include the following notice:

"This material contains content from LOINC® (http://loinc.org). The LOINC table, LOINC codes, and LOINC panels and forms file are copyright © 1995-2014, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Committee and available at no cost under the license at http://loinc.org/terms-of-use.”

1.Users are strongly encouraged, but not required, to indicate the appropriate version number of the Licensed Material used.
        a.Any information in the document that is extracted from the LOINC table or LOINC panels and forms file must always be associated with the corresponding LOINC code.
        b.Along with the LOINC code, users are required to include one of the following LOINC display names:
                i.The fully-specified name, which includes the information from the COMPONENT, PROPERTY, TIME_ASPCT, SYSTEM, SCALE_TYP, and METHOD_TYP fields;
                ii.The LOINC short name (from the SHORTNAME field); and
                iii.The LOINC long common name (from the LONG_COMMON_NAME field).
        c.Users are also required to either:
                i.Include the EXTERNAL_COPYRIGHT_NOTICE, or
                ii.Exclude information from the rows that include third party copyrighted content (e.g., third party survey instruments and answers). If third party content is included, users are required to comply with any such third party copyright license terms.

1.Use and distribution of the Licensed Materials in ways that are not specifically discussed herein shall always be accompanied by the notice provided in Section 9 hereof. The guidelines for providing the notice that are contained in the last paragraph of Section 9 also shall apply. If a user has a question about whether a particular use of any of the Licensed Materials is permissible, the user is invited to contact the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. by e-mail at loinc@regenstrief.org.

2.If the user desires to translate any of the Licensed Materials into a language other than English, then user shall notify Regenstrief Institute, Inc. via email at loinc@regenstrief.org. Any such translation is a derivative work, and the user agrees and does hereby assign all right, title and interest in and to such derivative work: (1) to Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee if the translation is a derivative of the LOINC codes, LOINC Users' Guide, or LOINC table, and (2) to Regenstrief Institute, Inc. if the translation is a derivative work of the RELMA program, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, LOINC hierarchies file, RELMA Users' Manual, RELMA database or associated search index files. Further, user shall fully cooperate with Regenstrief Institute, Inc. in the filing and reviewing of any copyright applications or other legal documents, and signing any documents (such as declarations, assignments, affidavits, and the like) that are reasonably necessary to the preparation of any such copyright application. The assignment granted by this paragraph extends to all proprietary rights both in the United States, and in all foreign countries. No other right to create a derivative work of any of the Licensed Materials is hereby granted (except the right to translate into a language other than English granted in this Section), and Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee respectively reserve all other rights not specifically granted herein. All such translations shall be electronically transmitted to Regenstrief Institute, Inc., and such translations shall be made available and are subject to the same license rights and restrictions contained herein. Regenstrief Institute, Inc. will give credit on the LOINC website (and on screens in RELMA) to the user and/or entity that did the translation. Accuracy of each translation is not verified by Regenstrief Institute, Inc. or the LOINC Committee.

3.The Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee welcome requests for new LOINC content (terms, codes, or associated material such as text descriptions and synonyms) and suggestions about revisions to existing content within the Licensed Materials. Any content submitted in conjunction with such a request is subject to the LOINC Submissions Policy, which is available at http://loinc.org/submissions-policy.

4.The names "Regenstrief," "Regenstrief Foundation," "Regenstrief Institute, Inc.," and "LOINC Committee" may not be used in a way which could be interpreted as an endorsement or a promotion of any product or service without prior written permission of the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Further, no right to use the trademarks of Regenstrief Institute, Inc. is licensed hereunder. To request written permission, please contact loinc@regenstrief.org.

5.DISCLAIMER: REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. AND THE LOINC COMMITTEE, AS WELL AS ANY CONTRIBUTORS WHO HAVE PROVIDED TRANSLATIONS OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS, DO NOT ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR ANY OMISSIONS OR ERRORS IN THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY OTHER MATERIALS OBTAINED FROM REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. AND/OR THE LOINC COMMITTEE. THE LICENSED MATERIALS AND ALL OTHER MATERIALS OBTAINED FROM REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. AND/OR THE LOINC COMMITTEE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, TRADE USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. FURTHER, NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION IS MADE CONCERNING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, SEQUENCE, TIMELINESS OR AVAILABILITY OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY OTHER MATERIALS OBTAINED FROM REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. AND/OR THE LOINC COMMITTEE, OR ANY TRANSLATIONS OR DERIVATIVE WORKS OF ANY OF THE FOREGOING. IN NO EVENT SHALL REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. OR THE LOINC COMMITTEE OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, RELIANCE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ATTORNEYS' FEES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; OPPORTUNITY COSTS; LOSS OF USE, DATA, SAVINGS OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY OTHER MATERIALS OBTAINED FROM REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE, INC. AND/OR THE LOINC COMMITTEE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE OR IF SUCH DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, SO SOME OF THE FOREGOING MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

6.This license shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Indiana, United States of America, excluding its conflicts of law rules.

7.Regenstrief Institute, Inc. may collect information about User including, but not limited to:
        a.Device specific information such as hardware model, operating system, and version;
        b.Internet Protocol address;
        c.How the User used the Licensed Materials (such as search queries run and about which LOINC code terms accessory information was reviewed);
        d.Contact information (e.g. name, email, and organization) provided by the User via RELMA or the loinc.org website;
        e.Date and time of access, download, or use, and duration of use.
        f.Regenstrief Institute, Inc. may associate this information with a user’s account on loinc.org;

Information collected about users shall only be used by the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and/or the LOINC Committee for non-profit and development purposes, and shall not be provided to third parties.

1        Notice of Third Party Content and Copyright Terms

A small portion of the content of the LOINC table, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC document ontology file, LOINC hierarchies file, RELMA database and associated search index files consists of content subject to copyright from third parties. This third party content is either used with permission or under the applicable terms of use. In all such cases, we have included the copyright notice. The copyright of the LOINC codes per se remain owned by Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the LOINC Committee and subject to the LOINC Copyright Notice and License.

The third party content is identified in the LOINC table by the applicable copyright notice (up to 250 characters) stored in the EXTERNAL_COPYRIGHT_NOTICE field. In RELMA and our web-based search application (http://search.loinc.org), the third party content is highlighted as follows: When such content appears in a search result grid, the programs will display a field with a link to a page containing the copyright notice and terms of use for that content. The programs may also visually highlight the rows of these LOINC codes.

We have included third party content that allows use and distribution at least for clinical, administrative, and research purposes. The third party copyright owners generally ask for attribution of the source, allow the free use of the content for treatment, health care management, and research purposes. They generally forbid alteration of their content (e.g., survey questions and/or answers) and use for commercial purpose, which usually means the direct sale of the survey instruments. They often do allow use of their content in commercial software, medical record and other clinical database systems, and the messaging of patient information collected through the use of these instruments.
