ICD-10-AM

ICD-10-AM is the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification. It consists of:

  • a tabular list of diseases and accompanying index

The NCCH is responsible for producing and updating ICD-10-AM in Australia under contract from The Australian Department of Health and Ageing, holder of the WHO licence to create an Australian version of ICD-10.

ICD-10-AM has been developed by the NCCH with assistance from clinicians and clinical coders to ensure that the classification is current and appropriate for Australian clinical practice.

The ICD-10-AM disease component is based on the WHO ICD-10. It uses an alphanumeric coding scheme for diseases. It is structured by body system and aetiology, and comprises three, four and five character categories.

ICD-10-AM is in its sixth edition, implemented in July 2008.

ACHI

The Australian Classification of Health Interventions (ACHI) is based on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and was previously known as the Medicare Benefits Schedule-Extended (MBS-E). The NCCH developed it with assistance from specialist clinicians and clinical coders. The ACHI codes have seven digits. The first five digits are the MBS item number. The two-digit extension represents specific procedures included in that item. The classification is structured by body system, site and procedure type. Procedures not currently listed in MBS have also been included (eg allied health interventions, cosmetic surgery).

ACHI consists of:

  • a tabular list of interventions and accompanying alphabetic index

The NCCH is responsible for producing and updating ACHI in Australia under contract from The Australian Department of Health and Ageing.

ACHI is in its sixth edition, implemented in July 2008.

The Australian Coding Standards

The Australian Coding Standards are written with the objective of satisfying sound coding convention according to ICD-10-AM and ACHI. They apply to all public and private hospitals in Australia. The ongoing revision of the Australian Coding Standards ensures that they reflect changes in clinical practice, clinical classification amendments, Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (AR-DRG) grouper updates and various user requirements of inpatient data collections.

The ICD-10-AM and ACHI coding manuals are updated biennially in Australia. The Australian Coding Standards are designed to be used in conjunction with ICD-10-AM and ACHI.

Standard practice is that all hospitals update biennially to the latest version of ICD-10-AM/ACHI and ACS and that the new version should be in use no later than 1 July of the publication year.

ICD-10-AM and ACHI tabular lists include an annotation of next to certain codes which indicates that an Australian Coding Standards exists which will assist in the application of the code.