Procedure coding

In April 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0176 and 0073 with changes to be implemented not later than August 01, 2021. Four new procedure codes related to men's health and breast surgery and one new companion diagnostic code were introduced.

The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) updates the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS) quarterly. It publishes the results on its website two weeks before the implementation, while the files with the changes are sent to the hospital systems. Most of the newly introduced procedure codes concern the gastrointestinal field.

In late March 2021, multiple new procedure codes were introduced by the Code Service of the Finnish National Health and Wellbeing Institution (THL), including ten neuromodulation codes, 54 codes in the ophthalmology area, and three codes in the cardiovascular area.

In March 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0175 and 0072 with changes to be implemented not later than May 01, 2021. Six new procedure codes related to gynecology, capsule endoscopy, and intracranial stereotactic radiotherapy were introduced. No changes were made in diagnostic test coding.

In late February 2021, the Delen collaboration platform of NHS Digital issued 2021 National Clinical Coding Standards (NCCS) OPCS-4.9 and ICD-10 reference books that must be used during the procedure and diagnosis coding from April 01, 2021. The updates mainly concerned endoscopic procedures, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) of the liver, peripheral vascular procedures using stents and stent-grafts, gynecological procedures using meshes, and bone densitometry.

In January 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0174 and 0071 with changes to be implemented not later than May 01, 2021. Five new procedure codes related to the areas of men's health, robotic surgery, endoscopy, and orthopedics, as well as three new diagnostic codes, were introduced.

In December 2020, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has expanded the Nomenclature of medical services in Russia. Section II of "Nomenclature of medical services" will contain new procedure codes that relate to medical interventions in obstetrics and gynecology.

The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) updates the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS) quarterly. It publishes the updates on its website two weeks before the implementation, while the files with the changes are sent to the hospital systems. The most significant changes include new codes in the fields of ophthalmology, gynecology, COVID testing, and radiological imaging.

In early December 2020, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare announced significant changes in the Swedish Classification of Health Care Measures (KVÅ) structure related to vascular surgery procedure codes. New Chapter V, “Operations on the aorta, peripheral vessels and lymphatic system,” will be introduced from January 2021, gathering all vascular surgical procedures previously located in several subchapters.

In November 2020, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0173 and 0070 with changes to be implemented not later than February 01, 2021. Three new procedure codes were introduced, related to robotic laparoscopy in gynecology, brachytherapy in prostate tumor, and autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) for osteochondral defects of the knee. Also, four codes for diagnostic tests were added.

On November 3, 2020, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published the critical features of the first release of the DRG package for the 2022 (RZ22a). Sixteen new procedure codes and three new DRG groups will be implemented.

On October 30, 2020, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office (UFS) published the 2021 version of the procedure code (CHOP) nomenclature in French and Italian. The version in the German language was published in July 2020. The most important changes regard cardiovascular and peripheral vascular interventions.