The Australian Coder Workforce 2002: A report of the National Clinical Coder Survey

摘要

In 1994–1995, the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) was funded by the Commonwealth government to conduct a nation-wide survey of clinical coders working in Australian hospitals. The survey provided data about the coder workforce in terms of its size, the educational backgrounds of coders, circumstances relating to their employment and their needs in terms of continuing support.ududThe data supplied by coders and managers provided the baseline information for work subsequently undertaken by the HIMAA and to some extent by the National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH) and the Clinical Coders’ Society of Australia (CCSA), to support and develop the clinical coding profession. At the time the original survey was conducted, casemix was not widely used for the management of health services in Australia, although the Victorian health department had begun to implement casemix-based funding. The Commonwealth had published the Casemix Development Project Strategic Plan for 1993/4–1997/8. Priority Area 1 of the plan was related to the development of relevant classification systems to describe hospital outputs and the coder survey was directly related to this priority. It is anticipated that casemix has had a major effect on the size and responsibilities of the coding profession since that time. Previously coded data was largely used by state health departments and hospitals for planning, epidemiological studies and research. Casemix and costing has added an entirely new requirement for accurate and complete patient data.ududIt has now been nearly eight years since the original survey was conducted and ICD-10-AM and casemix are in use in all states and territories. It is reported anecdotally that the roles and responsibilities of clinical coders have changed significantly over this time period and that the workforce has grown in size and stature.