title: Experience of coding ambulatory visits to outpatient clinics.
abstract: Clinical data for all current outpatients at a large tertiary hospital has been collected for analysis. Patient diagnoses for selected "key" clinics have been coded to ICD-9-CM standards. Methods to reduce the volume of coding required for such data collection are discussed, and include short-lists of codes, default assignment of diagnoses codes according to the nature of visit, and producing a "discharge" summary for outpatients, similar to that routinely produced for inpatients.
authors.affiliation: Princess Alexandria Hospital, Brisbane.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ives
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000145:classification*; D001315:Australia; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003625:Data Collection; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004194:Disease / Q000145:classification; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records / Q000145:classification*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*