Encyclopedia > International Classification of Health Interventions
The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is a system of classifying procedure codes being developed by the World Health Organization. It is currently only available as a beta release. Procedure codes are numbers or alphanumeric codes used to identify specific health interventions taken by medical professionals. ... The WHO flag: similar to the flag of the United Nations, augmented with the symbolic staff and serpent of Asklepios, Greek god of medicine and healing. ...
It is designed to replace the "International Classification of Procedures in Medicine" (ICPM), a system that was developed in the 1970s but which never received the same international acceptance as ICD-9. As a result, most nations developed their own incompatible standards for coding procedures and interventions. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) is a detailed description of known diseases and injuries. ...
It is largely derived from the "Australian Classification of Health Interventions" (ACHI), a portion of the Australian standard ICD-10-AM, which in turn was largely derived from ICD-10 and the United States extension ICD-9-CM. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) is a detailed description of known diseases and injuries. ...
See also
ICD-10-PCS
The ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) is a system of medical classification used for Procedural codes. ...
The WHO constitution mandates the production of internationalclassifications on health so that there is a consensual, meaningful and useful framework which governments, providers and consumers can use as a common language.
The basis for the WHO Family of InternationalClassifications and the principles governing the admission of classifications are set out in the paper on the "WHO Family of InternationalClassifications'.
Classifications capture snapshot views of population health using such parameters as death, disease, functionality, disability, health and healthinterventions, which inform management and decision making process in the health system.
The purpose of this classification is to provide Member States, health care service providers and organizers, and researchers with a common tool for reporting and analysing the distribution and evolution of healthinterventions for statistical purposes.
It is structured with various degrees of specificity for use at the different levels of the health systems, and uses a common accepted terminology in order to permit comparison of data between countries and services.
International work on the subject came to a virtual halt in 1989, because of the inadequacy of the consultation procedures with regard to the necessary adaptability to rapid and extensive changes in the field.