Sunday, December 23, 2007

Medical Classification is Medical Coding

What is medical classification and what is medical coding? Well, both the terms refer to the process of transforming details of medical diagnostic processes and diagnosis into medical code numbers that are universal. From where are the details about the patient's disease and his medical history taken? Some of the sources include,

Doctor's notes
Biochemistry/Lab reports
Radiology reports

What is the use of these medical codes? They are used to track diseases and quite useful for health insurance companies, government hospitals, worker's compensation carriers etc. Some of the other applications of these medical coding/ classification systems include,

Reimbursements
Statistical analysis
Epidemic surveillance
Knowledge based decision support

Here are the different types of medical classifications

Reference Classifications
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health
International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health
International Classification of Health Interventions
International Classification of Primary Care
International Classification of External Causes of Injury
Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System
Technical aids for persons with disabilities: Classification and terminology
International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition
ICD-10 for Mental and Behavioural Disorder
Application of International Classification of Diseases to Dentistry and Stomatology
Application of the International Classification of Diseases to Neurology
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth Procedure Coding System
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine
TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours
Unified Medical Language System
Mendelian inheritance in Man
Current Procedural Terminology
Health Care Procedure Coding System
North American Nursing Diagnosis Associates
Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes
International Classification of Headache Disorders 2nd Edition