Procedure coding

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.

In early November 2020, the final version of the procedure coding system for 2021 was issued by the Norwegian Directorate for e-Health. Two new surgical procedure codes for laparoscopy and 17 for orthopedic procedures, two new radiology procedure codes, and nine new medical procedure codes were introduced.

In late October 2020, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) has published the final version of the OPS 2021 (Operation and Procedure Keys) system. The OPS, together with the ICD-10-GM (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, German Modification), forms the basis for the reimbursement systems in outpatient and inpatient care.

At the information meeting on October 13, 2020, Norwegian Directorate for e-Health presented planned changes in the coding system (NCSP-NCMP-NCRP) for 2021. Two new surgical procedure codes for laparoscopy, two new radiology procedure codes, and nine new medical procedure codes are proposed.

In late September 2020, the Austrian version of the DRG system (LKF) 2021 model with the relevant supplementary documents was published in Austria. For 2021, the main changes include the addition of sixteen new procedure codes and the introduction of two new procedure codes for billing in the day-case settings, update of cases flat rates, and adjustments of the cases daily component calculation.

In mid-August 2020, the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) published the preliminary 2021 version of OPS procedure coding nomenclature. Numerous content updates and new procedure codes inclusion concern the chapters 1 “Diagnostic measures,” 5 “Operations,” and 8 “Non-operative therapeutic measures.” The list of new endoscopy-related procedure codes added under the respective OPS sub-chapters of chapters 1 and 5 is provided below: