Procedure coding

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.

In June 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 0184 and 0081 with changes to be implemented no later than August 09, 2022. Two new procedure codes for robotic surgery and two new diagnostic codes were introduced.

In mid-June 2022, the Danish Health Data Agency (Sundhedsstyrelsen) published an update of the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS). The most significant changes include: 30 new diagnosis codes, 27 procedure codes, and 24 additional codes (Tillægskoder) were added. The newly added procedure codes mainly concern the orthopedics field, in addition to some other technology groups.

In mid-May 2022, the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics announced that they will be accepting applications for changes in procedure code (CHOP) nomenclature from June 1, 2022, until September 18, 2022. The applications made in 2022 will be reflected in the 2024 version of the CHOP nomenclature.

On April 28, 2022, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published the first release of the DRG package for 2023 (RZ23a). Ten new procedure codes, thirteen new supplementary payments, and nine new DRGs will be implemented.

In April 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 0183 and 0080 with changes to be implemented no later than June 14, 2022. Eleven new procedure codes and nine new diagnostic codes were introduced.

In mid-March 2022, the Danish Health Data Agency (Sundhedsstyrelsen) published an update of the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS). The most significant changes include: ten new diagnosis codes, two procedure codes, and 143 additional codes (Tillægskoder) were added. The newly added procedure codes concern gastrointestinal and peripheral vascular procedures.

In February 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, published Bulletins 0182 and 0079 with changes to be implemented no later than April 10, 2022. Three new procedure codes concerned robotic surgery in orthopaedic area, spinal procedures, and ophthalmology, and five new diagnostic codes were introduced.

In late January 2022, 19 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 and image-guided interventions.