Thursday, April 7, 2011

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. The four basic categories of coding are diagnostic codes, procedural codes, pharmaceutical codes, and topographical codes. The diagnostic codes are used to group and identify diseases, disorders, symptoms, and medical signs, and the procedure codes are numbers or alphanumeric codes used to identify specific health interventions that are taken by medical professionals. While the pharmaceutical codes are about medications the topographical codes indicate the concerned body part.


From where are all these 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. These medical coding/ classification system applications are mainly used for reimbursements of the medical bills from insurance companies. It is also used for statistical analysis, in epidemic surveillance and for 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 Behavioral Disorder Application of the 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 This article has been viewed

1 comments:

omnitech said...

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