NLM Value Set Authority Center (VSAC). Value Set Authoring. Importing multiple codes.
VSAC offers a quick and easy way of importing lists of codes into your value sets.
This quick demonstration shows how to perform this procedure.
After logging into the VSAC, click on the Authoring tab.
You can create a new value set here by clicking on the ‘Create a Value Set’ button.
However, in this example, we will use an existing draft value set.
To find the value set we are going to modify, I will expand the ‘My Value Sets’ section.
Then, I click on the OID link for the value set of interest. The value set opens in a separate tab.
I chose the latest available version of the LOINC code system for my value set, which is the version 2.48.
I have a spreadsheet with the list of codes. Let’s add these codes to this value set.
First, open the value set for editing. To do that, click on the Edit button.
Now, switch to the spreadsheet window.
The spreadsheet contains LOINC codes I have put together
using the LOINC 2.40 version, the older version, so there is a possibility some of the codes will be no longer valid or active
in the latest version of the code system that our value set is using.
Copy the codes from the spreadsheet.
Switch back to the VSAC interface and click on the Import button in the tool bar on the top of the Code list table.
This opens a dialog box.
Here you see the name of the code system and its version at the top,
and the pull-down menu to select the separator for your values.
VSAC currently supports a blank separator, a Tab, a vertical bar or “pipe”, and a semicolon.
When preparing your list of codes, make sure you remove any trailing spaces between the values and the separators.
Otherwise, you will get an error message during the import process, and your codes will not import correctly.
In our particular case, when I copied the codes from the spreadsheet,
I created a blank-separated list in the memory buffer of my computer.
So I will leave “blank” as the separator selection. Now place the cursor in the Codes box and paste the codes.
To import the codes, click on the ‘Import’ button. VSAC automatically validated the codes and reported those codes that are inactive or
invalid in this new window.
Click on the ‘Import Valid‘ button to import all active or valid codes.
The codes are now appearing in the value set’s code list.
Save your value set by clicking the Save button.
This concludes our tutorial.
Back on the VSAC home page, you can read more about the VSAC and value set authoring
by reviewing the information in the Help and Authoring Guidance tabs.
You can also send us your questions by following the Contact Us link.
Thank you for watching!