Comparison of procedure coding systems for level 1 and 2 hospitals in South Africa.
The ability of three procedure coding systems to reflect the procedure concepts extracted from patient records from six hospitals was compared, in order to inform decision making about a procedure coding standard for South Africa. A convenience sample of 126 procedure concepts was extracted from patient records at three level 1 hospitals and three level 2 hospitals. Each procedure concept was coded using ICPC-2, ICD-9-CM, and CCSA-2001. The extent to which each code assigned actually reflected the procedure concept was evaluated (between 'no match' and 'complete match'). For the study sample, CCSA-2001 was found to reflect the procedure concepts most completely, followed by ICD-9-CM and then ICPC-2. In practice, decision making about procedure coding standards would depend on multiple factors in addition to coding accuracy.
Research Capacity Development Division, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa.
Lebogang
L
Montewa
Lyn
L
Hanmer
Gavin
G
Reagon
D059019:Clinical Coding / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062527:Meaningful Use / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013019:South Africa