Background: Clinical coding is an integral part of health information management (HIM) practice which provides valuable data for healthcare quality evaluation, health resource allocation, health services research, medical billing, public health programming, Case-Mix/DRG funding. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) is a veritable tool for the effectiveness of clinical coding practices. Objective: This present study determined implementation levels of ICD-10 as well as ICD-10-PCS and clinical coding practices in both public and for-profit hospitals in Nigeria. Methods: We used Chi square (χ2) and Cramer’s V (φc) to assess the level of association between type of workplace and implementations of ICD-10 and clinical coding practices. Statistical significance was set at .05. Result: The study discovered nationwide implementation of ICD-10 (179, 88.2%) and fair adoption of its procedure counterpart (79, 38.9%). Most hospitals in Nigeria especially, for-profit facilities (3, 100%) and tertiary healthcare settings (148, 93.1%) employed HIM professionals (214, 91.5%) to manage their clinical coding processes. Conversely, the study observed that challenges confronting clinical coding processes were enormous. Notable among these were absence of automation (70, 34.5%), lack of political will (51, 48.1%), inadequate clinical coders (153, 74.4%) and suboptimal documentation (186, 91.6). Suggestions to improve clinical coding practices ranges from continuing professional coding education (33, 10.3%) to initiation of Nigerian’s modification of ICD such that ICD-10 will become ICD-10-NGM (1, 0.3%). Conclusion: Most healthcare systems in Nigeria have implemented ICD-10 for coding and classification of diagnoses and procedures and the process is being managed by the right workforce (i.e. HIM professionals) which reassures effectiveness. However, lack of political will, inadequate and unmotivated workforce and suboptimal clinical documentation were among challenges confronting the practice in Nigeria. Therefore, this study suggests advocacy and coding education with a view to modifying the orientation of all stakeholders and to sensitize relevant authorities on the benefits of clinical coding practices in order to maximize its outcome and in effect, improve public health in the country.
Published in |
American Journal of Health Research (Volume 3, Issue 1-1)
This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Information Technology in Developing Nations: Challenges and Prospects Health Information Technology |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16 |
Page(s) | 38-46 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Automated Coding, Clinical Coding, Clinical Documentation, Data Quality, Discharge Summary, Health Information Technology, Health Information Management Professionals, ICD-10
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APA Style
Ibrahim Taiwo Adeleke, Olawole Olusegun Ajayi, Ahmed Bolakale Jimoh, Abdullateef Adisa Adebisi, Sunday Akingbola Omokanye, et al. (2014). Current Clinical Coding Practices and Implementation of ICD-10 in Africa: A Survey of Nigerian Hospitals. American Journal of Health Research, 3(1-1), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16
ACS Style
Ibrahim Taiwo Adeleke; Olawole Olusegun Ajayi; Ahmed Bolakale Jimoh; Abdullateef Adisa Adebisi; Sunday Akingbola Omokanye, et al. Current Clinical Coding Practices and Implementation of ICD-10 in Africa: A Survey of Nigerian Hospitals. Am. J. Health Res. 2014, 3(1-1), 38-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16
AMA Style
Ibrahim Taiwo Adeleke, Olawole Olusegun Ajayi, Ahmed Bolakale Jimoh, Abdullateef Adisa Adebisi, Sunday Akingbola Omokanye, et al. Current Clinical Coding Practices and Implementation of ICD-10 in Africa: A Survey of Nigerian Hospitals. Am J Health Res. 2014;3(1-1):38-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16
@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16, author = {Ibrahim Taiwo Adeleke and Olawole Olusegun Ajayi and Ahmed Bolakale Jimoh and Abdullateef Adisa Adebisi and Sunday Akingbola Omokanye and Mary Kehinde Jegede}, title = {Current Clinical Coding Practices and Implementation of ICD-10 in Africa: A Survey of Nigerian Hospitals}, journal = {American Journal of Health Research}, volume = {3}, number = {1-1}, pages = {38-46}, doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16}, abstract = {Background: Clinical coding is an integral part of health information management (HIM) practice which provides valuable data for healthcare quality evaluation, health resource allocation, health services research, medical billing, public health programming, Case-Mix/DRG funding. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) is a veritable tool for the effectiveness of clinical coding practices. Objective: This present study determined implementation levels of ICD-10 as well as ICD-10-PCS and clinical coding practices in both public and for-profit hospitals in Nigeria. Methods: We used Chi square (χ2) and Cramer’s V (φc) to assess the level of association between type of workplace and implementations of ICD-10 and clinical coding practices. Statistical significance was set at .05. Result: The study discovered nationwide implementation of ICD-10 (179, 88.2%) and fair adoption of its procedure counterpart (79, 38.9%). Most hospitals in Nigeria especially, for-profit facilities (3, 100%) and tertiary healthcare settings (148, 93.1%) employed HIM professionals (214, 91.5%) to manage their clinical coding processes. Conversely, the study observed that challenges confronting clinical coding processes were enormous. Notable among these were absence of automation (70, 34.5%), lack of political will (51, 48.1%), inadequate clinical coders (153, 74.4%) and suboptimal documentation (186, 91.6). Suggestions to improve clinical coding practices ranges from continuing professional coding education (33, 10.3%) to initiation of Nigerian’s modification of ICD such that ICD-10 will become ICD-10-NGM (1, 0.3%). Conclusion: Most healthcare systems in Nigeria have implemented ICD-10 for coding and classification of diagnoses and procedures and the process is being managed by the right workforce (i.e. HIM professionals) which reassures effectiveness. However, lack of political will, inadequate and unmotivated workforce and suboptimal clinical documentation were among challenges confronting the practice in Nigeria. Therefore, this study suggests advocacy and coding education with a view to modifying the orientation of all stakeholders and to sensitize relevant authorities on the benefits of clinical coding practices in order to maximize its outcome and in effect, improve public health in the country.}, year = {2014} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Current Clinical Coding Practices and Implementation of ICD-10 in Africa: A Survey of Nigerian Hospitals AU - Ibrahim Taiwo Adeleke AU - Olawole Olusegun Ajayi AU - Ahmed Bolakale Jimoh AU - Abdullateef Adisa Adebisi AU - Sunday Akingbola Omokanye AU - Mary Kehinde Jegede Y1 - 2014/12/31 PY - 2014 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16 T2 - American Journal of Health Research JF - American Journal of Health Research JO - American Journal of Health Research SP - 38 EP - 46 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8796 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.s.2015030101.16 AB - Background: Clinical coding is an integral part of health information management (HIM) practice which provides valuable data for healthcare quality evaluation, health resource allocation, health services research, medical billing, public health programming, Case-Mix/DRG funding. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) is a veritable tool for the effectiveness of clinical coding practices. Objective: This present study determined implementation levels of ICD-10 as well as ICD-10-PCS and clinical coding practices in both public and for-profit hospitals in Nigeria. Methods: We used Chi square (χ2) and Cramer’s V (φc) to assess the level of association between type of workplace and implementations of ICD-10 and clinical coding practices. Statistical significance was set at .05. Result: The study discovered nationwide implementation of ICD-10 (179, 88.2%) and fair adoption of its procedure counterpart (79, 38.9%). Most hospitals in Nigeria especially, for-profit facilities (3, 100%) and tertiary healthcare settings (148, 93.1%) employed HIM professionals (214, 91.5%) to manage their clinical coding processes. Conversely, the study observed that challenges confronting clinical coding processes were enormous. Notable among these were absence of automation (70, 34.5%), lack of political will (51, 48.1%), inadequate clinical coders (153, 74.4%) and suboptimal documentation (186, 91.6). Suggestions to improve clinical coding practices ranges from continuing professional coding education (33, 10.3%) to initiation of Nigerian’s modification of ICD such that ICD-10 will become ICD-10-NGM (1, 0.3%). Conclusion: Most healthcare systems in Nigeria have implemented ICD-10 for coding and classification of diagnoses and procedures and the process is being managed by the right workforce (i.e. HIM professionals) which reassures effectiveness. However, lack of political will, inadequate and unmotivated workforce and suboptimal clinical documentation were among challenges confronting the practice in Nigeria. Therefore, this study suggests advocacy and coding education with a view to modifying the orientation of all stakeholders and to sensitize relevant authorities on the benefits of clinical coding practices in order to maximize its outcome and in effect, improve public health in the country. VL - 3 IS - 1-1 ER -