The challenge of an international classification of procedures in medicine

This paper reviews the international developments with respect to the classification of medical procedures in light of recent work by CEN/TC251 and the situation in the Netherlands. The historical background is outlined, some advantages and disadvantages of ICPM are discussed, and some new initiatives are reported. Recent initiatives all tend towards the same sort of structure for the classification of medical procedures. So far, no international body is taking responsibility for the standardization of the contents of these structures. A questionnaire was sent out in order to investigate the existence or emergence of national coding centers, their wishes with respect to procedure classification, and their willingness to collaborate in the development and use of one international classification. The response to the questionnaire is briefly discussed and some further steps are proposed.