Typing of diseases in the Hungarian minimal basic data set for hospital treatment episodes

For reimbursement and epidemiological statistics the coded diagnoses should be classified in types like principal diagnosis, complication, co-morbidity etc. Computer assisted semi-automatic coding systems usually does not pay attention to this problem. After the description of pertaining national regulation, we present a logical framework of an algorithm, which minimise the clerical work for physicians and presumably will satisfy the need of epidemiology and reimbursement. The algorithm makes difference between diagnosis and disease, various diagnostic statement types, and uses causal chains among conditions expressed by diagnoses.