Commentary: From Mixtapes to Playlists – Evolving Options for Capturing Diagnoses in Canadian Physicians’ Data

Abstract

Physician billing claims are rich sources of administrative health data. However, diagnostic codes in billing claims are drawn from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (WHO & International Conference for the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases 1977), which has not been updated by the World Health Organization in three decades. With its updated and expanded content and its digital tooling, the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) (WHO n.d.a.) could be considered for this purpose. Primary care practitioners have always found the ICD inadequate for their needs. This may change with ICD-11, with which the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) (van Boven and Ten Napel 2021) is more closely aligned. ICD-11, ICPC and the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms present evolving options for capturing diagnoses in physician data.