ABSTRACT
Balancing the multiple uses of ICD-9-CM with its central purpose as a statistical classification system is the function of the Coordination and Maintenance Committee. This article describes the process to modify diagnosis and procedure codes and how AHIMA members can contribute to improving ICD-9-CM.
Subject(s)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S./organization & administration , Disease/classification , Medical Records/classification , National Center for Health Statistics, U.S./organization & administration , Abstracting and Indexing/standards , Humans , Interinstitutional Relations , Organizational Objectives , United StatesABSTRACT
A major purpose for gathering descriptive statistics is to allow comparisons of data over time and among different places. In the case of public health it has been particularly important to make such comparisons utilising diagnostic information. Without a standard measuring tool which remains fixed for periods of time and which is applied uniformly from place to place, meaningful comparative analyses of diagnostic information would not be possible. The International Classification of Diseases is such a standard tool. This presentation briefly traces the history of the development and revision of various versions of this International Classification of Diseases and presents the background leading to the current activities associated with the Tenth Revision of this important health statistical and epidemiological disease classification.
Subject(s)
Disease/classification , Terminology as Topic , Cause of Death , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , International Cooperation , Statistics as Topic/historyABSTRACT
The development in the United States of America of an automated system for coding mortality data (Automated Classification of Medical Entities--ACME) was undertaken with two major objectives in mind: (i) to introduce consistent and rapid assignment of underlying cause-of-death coding with reduced needs for manpower training; and (ii) to allow better utilization of medical information on death certificates for multiple cause-of-death analyses. The ACME system meets both of these objectives; the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) produces all of its underlying cause-of-death statistics for the United States on the basis of this system, and multiple cause-of-death data are routinely available for additional epidemiological study beyond the traditional methods of vital statistics analyses. Enhancements of the automated system, primarily through the software known as MICAR, reduce even further the levels of training necessary for persons doing the basic data entry. MICAR additionally will ease transitions between ICD revisions by reducing the need for coder reorientation and by permitting rapid calculation of comparability ratios when new revisions are introduced.
