Medical Codings – An Overview
Bertillon Classification of Causes of Death, introduced by a French physician in 1893 at a congress of International Statistical Institute in Chicago, is generally considered the origin of the most well known medical coding ICD - 'International Classification of Diseases', currently being used to classify the causes of mortality as well as morbidity (diseases and other health related problems). The primary purpose of a medical coding is to apply codes to clinical terms or information. In its simplest form you can think of it as a dictionary mapping clinical terms to codes (where each term is associated with a unique code). It is an integral part of clinical documentation. Classically it's being used to generate statistical reports. Coding the diagnostic and treatment information in insurance claims is another common use of it. Medical classification is being used internationally for more than hundred years, but it is the advancement in information technology that opened up