MEDICAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS IN CANADA - MOVING TOWARD THE YEAR 2000

THE USE OF DIFFERENT STANDARDS FOR CODING DIAGNOSES and procedures has been identified as a major obstacle to the collection and analysis of data across the various jurisdictions in Canada. in this article the authors briefly describe the current and future situation of medical c lassification systems in Canada and discuss some of the potential bene fits and implications of adopting the 10th revision of the Internation al Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and a revised procedure classification, the Canadian Classification of Health Interventions, as national standards for classification system s in Canada. They further describe some of the key features of the pro posed new classification systems and highlight some of the actions bei ng taken by the Canadian Institute for Health Information to support i mplementation of these standards in Canada over the next few years.