ICD-10 Brief

							ICD-10 4th Edition Implementation Update
The mandating Information Standards Notice to the NHS and their suppliers (Reference Amd
86/2010) for the implementation of ICD-10 updates on 1 April 2012 was issued by the Information
Standards Board on 4 August 2011. This followed the earlier Advance Notification for the ICD-10
updates issued in April 2011. www.isb.nhs.uk/documents/isb-0021/amd-86-2010/index_html

Subsequent to a consultation with licence holders on format of data files to inform the release of
ICD-10 4th Edition early in 2011, NHS Connecting for Health released updated data files and
specifications for the NHS and NHS system suppliers in August 2011.
http://www.uktcregistration.nss.cfh.nhs.uk/trud3/user/guest/group/61/pack/10

Valuable input from the clinical coding community on training requirements to support the
implementation of ICD-10 4th Edition contributed to the NHS Classifications Service developing
training materials tailored to the needs of NHS coding departments. The training materials are
available for download from the NHS Connecting for Health website and Technology Release Update
Distribution service free of charge. They complement the National Clinical Coding Standards ICD-10
4th Edition reference book published in early February by the NHS Classifications Service. This
essential reference book sees a change in content to focus more on being a repository of ICD-10
national clinical coding standards in use in the NHS. The book was distributed to the NHS Clinical
coding department free of charge between 6 and 14 February:
www.cfh.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/data/clinicalcoding/codingstandards/icd10/icd10updates
Accurate coding is a prerequisite of effective casemix systems used for Payment by Results to
provide a transparent, rules-based system for paying Trusts. All ICD-10 4th Edition valid codes will be
accommodated via the HRG grouping process into reference cost and payment groupers. Coded
clinical data underpins Payment by Results and accurate clinical coding is seen as the cornerstone of
accurate payment to Trusts for the patient care provided. Consequently collaborative working
between the DH, NHS CFH and NHS Information Centre has been fundamental to the development.

For those healthcare providers who use terminologies, or have adopted their use by April 2012, NHS
Connecting for Health will provide mapping to ICD-10 that will allow central returns to be submitted
in the mandatory ICD-10 format. The mapping files will be released as part of the usual terminology
release schedule. http://www.uktcregistration.nss.cfh.nhs.uk/trud3/user/guest/group/0/pack/9

The ICD-10 classification is used in the United Kingdom to classify the diagnosis of all inpatient
consultant episodes and attendances. Therefore it is an important component of mandatory
hospital-generated national data set; such as the Admitted Patient Care Commissioning Data Set
collected for secondary uses. ICD-10 is also used in hospitals for strategic and operational planning
and reimbursement. ICD-10 underpins key information initiatives to support the monitoring of
specific diseases and health trends for national and international purposes.

Some of the new codes are the answer to long standard coding problems, enable more precise
coding, and will have a positive impact on the quality and depth of coded clinical data. The ICD-10
updates to create the ICD-10 4th Edition are not a change to the existing code structure. The
updates provide new codes, modifications to existing code descriptions or retire codes.
In 2010 the Government committed to World Health Organisation ICD-10 changes for NHS
implementation on 1 April 2012 to support quality improvements. This aligns with the latest World
Health Organisation classification updates referred to as the ICD-10 4th Edition or ICD-10 (2010).