Fenton SH, Stanfill MH, Giannangelo K. An ICD for the Digital World: What Does the ICD-11 Research Show? Stud Health Technol Inform 2024;310:58-62. doi:10.3233/SHTI230927
This review paper outlines the beneficial changes to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) made in the updated 11th revision. Unlike ICD-10, ICD-11 was created with the digital world in mind. The ICD-11 is designed to work within digital workflows and application program interfaces and promote digital health information systems. The updates also allow for better research and statistical analysis when research teams are analyzing electronic health record data. The new ICD is also flexible. Revisions are driven by global changes/needs and feedback in a year-round, open process. In addition to the computability and flexibility, ICD-11 is also multi-lingual. The ICD-11 is available in six languages with twenty more in process as of 2024. As prior iterations of the ICD have stood for a decade at a time, increased clinical relevancy was a tenet of ICD-11. To address this, ICD-11 included the introduction of post-coordination. Post-coordination allows multiple codes to be added into a cluster which is used to describe a clinical concept. While the transition to ICD-11 is currently in the research phase, the comparisons between ICD-10 and ICD-11 are promising. Overall, ICD-11 implantation appears feasible and necessary in the face of an increasingly digital healthcare world.