American Journal of Public Health · 1990 · 23 citations · 4 references
Public HealthInjury PreventionPublic Health PracticeEpidemiologyMedical CodingPublic Health SurveillanceCoding GuidelinesElectronic Health Record CodingInjury Case DefinitionInjury CodingInjury EpidemiologyMorbidity CodingCase Classification SystemsHospital Electronic Health RecordsInjury Coding ClassificationInjury Coding SystemsInjury Surveillance SystemsInternational Classification Of DiseasesNonfatal Injury SurveillancePublic Health Surveillance Reporting
To evaluate the usefulness of International Classification of Diseases external cause-of-injury and poisoning codes (E codes) for public health surveillance of nonfatal injuries, we analyzed E codes from Indian Health Service (IHS) hospital records. E codes for unknown or unspecified causes were used for 25 percent of records. At two hospitals, 63 percent of E codes assigned by independent coders agreed; another 18 percent matched on general cause-of-injury groups. With uniform guidelines and increased training, E coding could provide a valuable, cost-effective method of quantifying and characterizing severe, nonfatal injuries.
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