[ICHI-International Classification of Health Interventions : A balancing act between the demands of statistics and reimbursement].

Medical classifications systematize medical concepts (e. g. diagnoses, procedures). They are essential for statistics and reimbursement systems in health care systems. Diagnoses are classified worldwide with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The situation for procedure classifications is quite different. Many countries developed their own procedure classifications in different ways and for different purposes.Since 2007, the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is been developing as a common tool for reporting and analyzing health interventions for statistical purposes as well as for the use in reimbursement systems.ICHI covers not only medical and surgical procedures but also interventions carried out by a broad range of providers across the full scope of health systems, including rehabilitation, assistance with functioning, prevention and public health.The multiaxial classification is built around three axes: target (the entity on which the action is carried out), action (a deed done by an actor to a target) and means (the processes and methods by which the action is carried out). Extension codes are provided to allow users to describe additional detail about the intervention in addition to the relevant ICHI stem-code. ICHI was designed with a low level of complexity for countries seeking a classification, while also serving as a basis for international comparisons. ICHI can also be used in reimbursement systems, by adding cost-relevant information through extension codes.The recent 2018 ICHI beta version is available on the platform https://mitel.dimi.uniud.it/ichi . This version and further ICHI tools will be tested during later reviews and field testing in 2018 and 2019. Once finalized, probably in 2020, ICHI will be freely available for adoption by member states of the WHO.