Stream: terminology
Topic: usps 2 letter codes
Eric Haas (Oct 30 2018 at 17:21):
@Robert McClure what is the code system for the the usps 2 letter codes in VSAC (I can't access - must have let my license expire)
Eric Haas (Oct 30 2018 at 17:21):
(deleted)
Eric Haas (Oct 30 2018 at 17:21):
(deleted)
Eric Haas (Oct 30 2018 at 17:24):
(deleted)
Eric Haas (Oct 30 2018 at 17:25):
USPS was pulled from the spec in R4 and we need to add to US-Core. STU3 we use https://www.usps.com/
Grahame Grieve (Oct 30 2018 at 22:12):
should still use the same unless there's a strong reason not to
Robert McClure (Nov 01 2018 at 14:52):
Screen-Shot-2018-11-01-at-8.45.13-AM.png
Robert McClure (Nov 01 2018 at 14:53):
@Eric Haas @Grahame Grieve @Brett Marquard So for reasons that I would not be able to explain to anyones satisfaction, NLM has not been able to get official approval to include the USPS State codes in VSAC (really in the UMLS.) Please, Please comment on the problems this has caused here: https://support.nlm.nih.gov/support/create-case/ See the screenshot for the OID to be used based on C-CDA.
Brett Marquard (Nov 01 2018 at 14:55):
Are USPS state codes available for free anywhere? Last time I looked the answer was no.
Robert McClure (Nov 01 2018 at 15:19):
That is part of the problem. USPS is no longer a "standard" gov agency and they want to make money. So they sell the codes as part of the marketing database. Paying for it has fallen through the cracks at NLM for over 5 years.
Joel Schneider (Nov 01 2018 at 19:04):
The U.S. Census Bureau publishes "ANSI State Codes", here:
https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ansi_statetables.html
Their site indicates these are licensed as a U.S. Government Work:
https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/fips-state-codes
The USPS site indicates the state abbreviations haven't changed since 1969, as published by the Post Office Department. If they're claiming these as intellectual property, that seems questionable.
https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/state-abbreviations.htm
Robert McClure (Nov 02 2018 at 20:16):
@Joel Schneider NLM wants an official contact and a source. This source should have all needed postal "states" and other locations (outlying areas, etc.). None of the links you provide actually have the current official set other than the ansi one and that one is not easily downloadable. I suspect you are correct in your assertions and if they were willing to scrape the content off the census/ansi page, they would be on the way... But... they would then need to be told how to manage this code system that has two different identifiers, and determine all the metadata. They are adversely inclined to do that sort of thing. If others suggested what you have suggested (I've already given them a document suggesting this sort of things years ago), then perhaps they will move forward. I may even be on the development schedule.
Joel Schneider (Nov 02 2018 at 21:47):
Makes sense they would want to tie it back to an authoritative source, and avoid creating unnecessary redundancy.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
