Procedure coding

In November 2022, an annual update of the Swedish procedure coding system (Classification of Health Care Measures, KVÅ) was released to come into force from January 2023. A total of 119 new surgical procedure codes and 98 new medical procedure codes will be introduced concerning cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, eHealth, endocrinology, endoscopy, ENT, gastrointestinal, IVD, nephrology and urology, peripheral vascular, and others.

In the second half of October 2022, 47 new procedure codes were introduced by the Code Service of the Finnish National Health and Wellbeing Institution (THL). These codes became valid on November 1, 2022. The introduced codes are dedicated to diagnostic imaging, endoscopy, gastrointestinal, radiotherapy, pulmonary and airways, surgical procedures, and some other fields.

On September 22, 2022, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published the second release of the DRG package for 2023 (RZ23b). Nineteen new procedure codes, eight new supplementary payments, and seven new DRGs will be implemented. These changes concern remote monitoring, molecular diagnostics, surgical procedures, gynecology and dermatology technology groups.

In October 2022, the Norwegian Directorate of e-Health released the procedure coding system for 2023. A total of 54 new codes will be introduced from January 2023: 19 surgical procedure codes (NCSP) concerning neurology and neurosurgery, neurovascular, cardiovascular, eHealth, diagnostic imaging, pulmonary and airwaves, radiotherapy, nephrology, peripheral vascular, and surgical procedures, 17 radiology procedure codes (NCRP), and 18 medical procedure codes (NCMP).

In mid-September 2022, the Danish Health Data Agency (Sundhedsdatastyrelsen) published an update of the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS). The most significant changes include: four new diagnosis codes, 14 procedure codes, and 46 additional codes (Tillægskoder) were added. The newly added procedure codes mainly concern the surgical procedures field, in addition to some other technology groups.

On September 22, 2022, the Austrian version of the DRG system (LKF) 2023 model with the relevant supplementary documents was published in Austria. The document "Changes and innovations in the 2023 LKF model" summarizes the most significant changes and innovations in the LKF model for inpatient and outpatient care. The newly added procedure codes mainly concern cardiovascular, extracorporeal treatments, and peripheral vascular fields.

In August 2022, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclatures for private payers in England, published Bulletins 0185 and 0082 with changes to be implemented no later than October 11, 2022. Seven new procedure codes (for photodynamic therapy to skin lesions, patch continuous ECG recording, shoulder stabilization procedure, and ear reconstruction) and no new diagnostic codes.

On July 29, 2022, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office (UFS) published the 2023 version of the procedure code (CHOP) nomenclature in the German language. The newly introduced codes concern various technology groups, such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, in-vitro diagnostics, neurology and neurosurgery, interventional radiology, orthopedics, gynecology, and others.

On July 15, 2022, the Austrian Institute for HTA (AIHTA) published five decision support documents, which provide recommendations regarding the inclusion of new medical interventions in the catalog of individual medical services of the performance-oriented hospital financing (Leistungsorientierten Krankenanstaltenfinanzierung, LKF) model, as well as four updates to previous decision support documents. The decisions relate mainly to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal technology groups.

In June 2022, NHS Digital published a draft summary of core changes in OPCS-4.10, which will be implemented from April 01, 2023. OPCS-4 is a statistical classification for clinical coding of interventions and procedures undertaken within the NHS updated every three years. A total of 32 new three-character category codes and 228 four-character sub-category codes are proposed for the introduction.

In the first half of July 2022, 13 new procedure codes were introduced by the Code Service of the Finnish National Health and Wellbeing Institution (THL). The introduced codes are dedicated to diagnostic imaging, surgical procedures, radiology, and some other fields.

On June 22, 2022, the document "Changes and innovations in the 2022 LKF model" (Änderungen und Neuerungen in den LKF-Modellen 2023) was published. The document summarizes the most significant changes and innovations in the LKF model for inpatient and outpatient care. The newly added procedure codes mainly concern cardiovascular, extracorporeal treatments, and peripheral vascular fields.