Wansa Paoin1, Maliwan Yuenyongsuwan2, Yukiko Yokobori3, Hiroyoshi Endo4, Sukil Kim5. 1. 1 Thammasat University, Thailand. 2. 2 Royal Thai Government Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. 3. 3 Japan Hospital Association, Japan. 4. 4 Tokyo Joshi Ika Daigaku, Japan. 5. 5 Catholic University of Korea, Republic of Korea.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) has been used in various Asia-Pacific countries for more than 20 years. Although ICD-10 is a powerful tool, clinical coding processes are complex; therefore, many developing countries have not been able to implement ICD-10-based health statistics (WHO-FIC APN, 2007). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to simplify ICD-10 clinical coding processes, to modify index terms to facilitate computer searching and to provide a simplified version of ICD-10 for use in developing countries. METHOD: The World Health Organization Family of International Classifications Asia-Pacific Network (APN) developed a simplified version of the ICD-10 and conducted field testing in Cambodia during February and March 2016. Ten hospitals were selected to participate. Each hospital sent a team to join a training workshop before using the ICD-10 simplified version to code 100 cases. All hospitals subsequently sent their coded records to the researchers. RESULTS: Overall, there were 1038 coded records with a total of 1099 ICD clinical codes assigned. The average accuracy rate was calculated as 80.71% (66.67-93.41%). Three types of clinical coding errors were found. These related to errors relating to the coder (14.56%), those resulting from the physician documentation (1.27%) and those considered system errors (3.46%). DISCUSSION: The field trial results demonstrated that the APN ICD-10 simplified version is feasible for implementation as an effective tool to implement ICD-10 clinical coding for hospitals. CONCLUSION: Developing countries may consider adopting the APN ICD-10 simplified version for ICD-10 code assignment in hospitals and health care centres. The simplified version can be viewed as an introductory tool which leads to the implementation of the full ICD-10 and may support subsequent ICD-11 adoption.
BACKGROUND: The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) has been used in various Asia-Pacific countries for more than 20 years. Although ICD-10 is a powerful tool, clinical coding processes are complex; therefore, many developing countries have not been able to implement ICD-10-based health statistics (WHO-FIC APN, 2007). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to simplify ICD-10 clinical coding processes, to modify index terms to facilitate computer searching and to provide a simplified version of ICD-10 for use in developing countries. METHOD: The World Health Organization Family of International Classifications Asia-Pacific Network (APN) developed a simplified version of the ICD-10 and conducted field testing in Cambodia during February and March 2016. Ten hospitals were selected to participate. Each hospital sent a team to join a training workshop before using the ICD-10 simplified version to code 100 cases. All hospitals subsequently sent their coded records to the researchers. RESULTS: Overall, there were 1038 coded records with a total of 1099 ICD clinical codes assigned. The average accuracy rate was calculated as 80.71% (66.67-93.41%). Three types of clinical coding errors were found. These related to errors relating to the coder (14.56%), those resulting from the physician documentation (1.27%) and those considered system errors (3.46%). DISCUSSION: The field trial results demonstrated that the APN ICD-10 simplified version is feasible for implementation as an effective tool to implement ICD-10 clinical coding for hospitals. CONCLUSION: Developing countries may consider adopting the APN ICD-10 simplified version for ICD-10 code assignment in hospitals and health care centres. The simplified version can be viewed as an introductory tool which leads to the implementation of the full ICD-10 and may support subsequent ICD-11 adoption.
Keywords:
ICD coding errors; ICD-10; ICD-10 implementation; clinical coding; developing countries; international classification of diseases; morbidity coding; public health; public health systems research