ISO 21564-2025 PDF

Full title and description

St ISO 21564-2025 — Health informatics — Terminology resource map quality measures and requirements (MapQual). This International Standard defines quality requirements, measures and conformance guidance for creating, evaluating and using maps between terminological resources used in health and care information systems.

Abstract

This document (MapQual) establishes a set of quality measures, conformance levels and requirements to assess the quality and utility of mappings between terminological systems. It is intended to guide map producers, consumers and assessors in choosing appropriate measures for specific use cases (for example clinical decision support, data aggregation, exchange and conformity assessment), and to support consistent documentation, testing and reporting of mapping quality.

General information

• Status: Published
• Publication date: 28 May 2025
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• ICS / categories: 35.240.80 (Health informatics)
• Edition / version: Edition 1 (2025)
• Number of pages: 25

Scope

ISO 21564:2025 specifies quality criteria, measurable indicators and conformance requirements for maps that relate concepts, terms or codes from one terminological resource to another (terminology-to-terminology mapping). The scope covers definition of mapping types and semantics, recommended metrics for precision/recall and other quality attributes, documentation and provenance requirements, recommended testing and validation approaches, and guidance on selecting measures appropriate to common healthcare use cases. It is applicable to creators and users of mappings between clinical terminologies, classifications and code sets used in electronic health records, public health reporting, decision support and interoperability frameworks.

Key topics and requirements

• Definitions of mapping types and mapping semantics (one-to-one, one-to-many, equivalence, partial, hierarchical, associative).
• Quality attributes and measurable metrics (accuracy/precision, recall/sensitivity, ambiguity, coverage, consistency, provenance and traceability).
• Conformance levels and categorization of maps based on intended use and risk.
• Documentation, metadata and provenance requirements for maps (source/target, authorship, versions, change history).
• Recommended validation, testing and reporting methods (test datasets, sampling, automated checks, human review workflows).
• Guidance on selecting appropriate measures for specific healthcare use cases (clinical care, reporting, analytics, certification).
• Requirements for expressing and exchanging map assertions to support interoperability.

Typical use and users

Primary users are clinical terminologists, health informaticians, terminology service providers, EHR and health IT vendors, implementers of interoperability profiles, public health agencies, standards organizations, and conformity assessment/certification bodies. Typical uses include designing and validating mappings between terminologies (for example SNOMED CT, ICD, LOINC), assessing mapping quality for procurement or regulatory purposes, producing interoperable terminology services, and supporting clinical data aggregation and analytics.

Related standards

ISO 21564:2025 replaces ISO/TS 21564:2019. It is related to other ISO/TC 215 deliverables and international interoperability work such as terminology and terminology-binding guidance, electronic health record communication standards and information security standards for health data. Implementers often use it alongside terminology-specific guidance (for example SNOMED mapping guides) and interoperability specifications (for example HL7/FHIR terminology resources and binding guidance).

Keywords

MapQual, terminology mapping, mapping quality, mapping metrics, terminological resources, health informatics, interoperability, conformance, provenance, validation, ISO 21564

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO 21564:2025 (MapQual) is an International Standard that defines quality measures and requirements for maps between terminological resources used in health informatics.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers mapping types and semantics, measurable quality attributes (accuracy/precision, recall, coverage, consistency), conformance levels, documentation and provenance requirements, and recommended validation and reporting practices tailored to healthcare use cases.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Clinical terminologists, health informatics teams, terminology service providers, EHR and health IT vendors, public health bodies, standards implementers and certification or conformity-assessment organizations.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: ISO 21564:2025 is the current published version (Edition 1, published 28 May 2025). It supersedes and replaces ISO/TS 21564:2019.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: It is a standalone International Standard developed by ISO/TC 215 (Health informatics) but is conceptually and practically related to other ISO/TC 215 standards and international terminology and interoperability guidance used in health IT implementations.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Terminology mapping, MapQual, mapping quality, health informatics, interoperability, conformance, provenance, terminology resources, validation, metrics.