Research archive: Vol. 31 No.1

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Volume 31 Number 1: >> Clasification systems & terminologies

	The development of CCAM: The new French coding system of clinical procedures Beatrice Trombert-Paviot, Alan Rector, Robert Baud, Pieter Zanstra, Caroline Martin, Egbert van der Haring, Lucienne Clavel and Jean Marie Rodrigues [ PDF ] Abstract A new French coding system of clinical procedures, the Classification Commune Des Actes Medicaux (CCAM), has been developed at the turn of the millennium (between 1996 and 2001). Two methodologies were used: a traditional domain-experts consensus method, and an artificial-intelligence-based semantic representation. An economic evaluation of clinical procedures was also undertaken for the rating for fee-for-service payment. We present the methodologies used and stress how the European Union research project, ‘European Consortium, Generalised Architecture for Languages, Encyclopaedias and Nomenclatures in Medicine’ (GALEN), facilitated the sharing and maintaining of consistent medical knowledge. This country case study highlights the significant cost to individual countries in developing their own classifications in isolation. It also demonstrates the benefits of contributing to international efforts such as GALEN that enable harmonisation, yet still allow for diversity.
	Matching GP terms to the ICD-10-AM index Peter R Scott [ PDF ] Abstract This article describes some preliminary work done by the National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH) in response to the recommendations of the General Practice Coding Jury. Terms derived from two Australian general practices, two coordinated care trials and the General Practice Coding Jury were matched to the index of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) to gauge the content coverage provided by the existing index. Results showed the percentage of good general practice (GP) term/ICD-10-AM Index term matches was 58%. The percentage of acceptable concept matches was 88%. It is concluded that this work provides a useful methodology, and that the ICD-10-AM index may support a level of concept matches, while it will require augmentation to support term matching.