Introducing ICD-10-AM in Australian hospitals

The introduction of casemix funding systems has focused attention on the re liability and validity of coded health data. Defining and classifying medical and health related terms are the core acti vities of the National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH), which ha s recently published the Australian modification of the International stati stical classification of diseases and health related problems, 10th revisio n (ICD-10-AM). An important feature is a classification of procedures (MBS- E) based on the Commonwealth Medical Benefits Schedule. Clinicians have made major contributions to the new classification through a network of 21 Clinical Coding and Classification Groups, which advise the NCCH. Major advantages of ICD-10-AM for clinicians include the ability to update the classification within Australia with continued clinical consultation, t he familiarity of the procedure codes based on MBS, and the possibility of having one classification for use in public and private healthcare faciliti es.