In this blog, you’ll find:
- Explanation of Medical Dictionaries
- Contrasting Normal Medical Coding with Pharmacovigilance Coding
- Exploration of Different Types of Medical Dictionaries Utilized for Coding Medical Terminology
Table of Contents:
- Medical Coding vs Pharmacovigilance Coding: A Comparison
- What are Medical coding dictionaries?
- Known List of Medical Coding Dictionaries
- Choosing the Right Medical Dictionary
- Thoughts
- Reference
Medical Coding vs Pharmacovigilance Coding: A Comparison
Similarities:
- Both use universal codes made of letters and numbers.
- Both help in recording important medical information like diagnoses, treatments, and test results for patients.
- They both aid in keeping accurate documentation.
- Both prioritize patient safety.
- Both ensure adherence to regulations.
- They both manage healthcare data efficiently.
Medical dictionaries serve as the silent guides in the labyrinth of healthcare, illuminating the path to understanding and ensuring clarity in the language of healing.
Differences:
- Different coding dictionaries are used for its own purposes.
- Medical coding used in healthcare settings for billing, insurance claims and administrative purposes, while pharmacovigilance focuses solely on monitoring drug safety for patients.
- Medical coding involves communication between healthcare providers, patients, and insurance companies, whereas pharmacovigilance deals with interactions between healthcare providers, patients, and regulatory agencies.
What are Medical coding dictionaries?
Medical coding dictionaries are like libraries with special books used in medical coding to assign unique codes to different medical terms. These codes are the unique and universal which is based on dictionaries.
There are different types of medical dictionaries for different purposes. For instance, some dictionaries are just for coding drug-related terms, while others are for coding other medical terms.
Purpose: The coding of a vast array of medicines and conditions aims to accurately store information in databases. For instance, this includes coding drug details such as varying doses, pharmacological classes, and routes of administration.
Known List of Medical Coding Dictionaries
Hence coding of medical terms required by using standardize medical dictionaries. Data listed above like AEs, SAEs, MH , CM and any other category generally coded.
However coding AEs, SAEs and CM is mandate in any given clinical trial.
1. MedDRA
MedDRA, or the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities, is a special coding dictionary made by the Maintenance and Support Services Organization (MSSO).
It has its own place because it’s so popular. In clinical trials and pharmacovigilance, MedDRA using a lot when determining the condition of patient.
The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) on Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use supports MedDRA. Before MedDRA made, there wasn’t a standard set of medical terms used worldwide for regulating bio-pharmaceuticals.
2. WHO-ART
The WHO Adverse Reactions Terminology, a dictionary designed for accurately coding adverse reaction terms.
It is maintained by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), which is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring. However, this system is no longer actively updated.
3. WHO-DDE
The Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) WHO Drug Dictionary Enhanced. (WHO DDE) considered the most comprehensive and widely used reference for drug coding globally. It ensures accurate coding, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of clinical trial and safety data.
4. ICD9CM & ICD10CM
The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) is based on the World Health Organization’s Ninth Revision, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9).
ICD-9-CM is the official system of assigning codes to diagnoses and procedures associated with hospital utilization in the United States.
The ICD-9 used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates until 1999, when use of ICD-10 for mortality coding started.
5. COSTART
The Coding Symbols for a Thesaurus of Adverse Reaction Terms (COSTART) developed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the coding, filing and retrieving of post- marketing adverse reaction reports.
COSTART provides a method to deal with the variation in vocabulary used by those who submit adverse event reports to the FDA.
Use of this dictionary allowed for standardization of adverse reaction reporting towards the FDA in a consistent way.
6. SNOMED CT
SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms) is a comprehensive and multilingual clinical terminology system used for encoding and exchanging clinical data in electronic health records (EHRs).
It covers a wide range of medical concepts, including adverse events, and increasingly used in pharmacovigilance activities.
7. UMLS
The UMLS (Unified Medical Language System) is a knowledge representation system that integrates and maps various medical vocabularies and classifications, including MedDRA, SNOMED CT, and other terminologies.
It serves as a resource for data integration and cross-referencing between different coding systems.
8. HART
HART (Harmonized Adverse Reaction Terminology) is an alternative to MedDRA developed by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) to address the limitations of using multiple coding systems in global drug safety reporting.
9. CTCAE
CTCAE (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) classification system developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) primarily for grading the severity of adverse events in cancer clinical trials.
While it is not as comprehensive as MedDRA or some other systems and oncology research teams are using it widely.
Choosing the Right Medical Dictionary
MedDRA stands out as a widely utilized medical coding dictionary for encoding medical terms arising from clinical trials. The decision on which terminology to employ relies on the particular requirements of an organization or individual.
For those seeking a versatile terminology serving various purposes, SNOMED CT could be an excellent fit.
Conversely, for those prioritizing drug safety, WHODD may present a more suitable option. Moreover, for individuals in need of a terminology capable of grading the severity of adverse events, CTCAE might be preferable.
Ultimately, the most effective approach to selecting a terminology involves assessing your specific needs and seeking guidance from an expert.
Wrap-up:
This blog crafted for individuals who may not familiar with the dictionaries mentioned earlier. In today’s technologically advanced era, maintaining consistency in reporting and recording is essential. These dictionaries play a crucial role in achieving this uniformity.
However, for coders, ensuring that terms recorded or reported on data collection instruments like CRFs or eCRFs accurately coded poses a significant challenge.
Feel free to share your insights in the comments below to supplement the discussions above or to point out any aspects that may overlooked.
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