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UCUM

Unified Code for Units of Measure terminology, healthcare domain.

Definition

UCUM is a formal notation for units, designed for unambiguous machine reading. Covers SI, US Customary, clinical units. Examples: mg/dL, mL/min/{1.73_m2}, mmol/L. Maintained by the Regenstrief Institute.

Origin

Initiated 1998 by Gunther Schadow and Clem McDonald (Regenstrief). Cited as default valueSet for Quantity.unit in FHIR.

Example in context

In FHIR Observation, valueQuantity = {value: 5.5, unit: "mmol/L", system: "http://unitsofmeasure.org", code: "mmol/L"}.

  • HL7 FHIR — specification requiring UCUM.
  • LOINC — companion terminology.

Last updated: May 15, 2026