Emergency use ICD codes for COVID-19 disease outbreak
Since the beginning of the pandemic and in response to member state requests, the classification and terminologies unit has been progressively activating emergency codes for COVID-19 in ICD-10 and ICD-11 after consultation with the relevant committees and reference groups of the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) Network.
February 2020 Emergency codes were activated for COVID-19:
- confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19
- clinical or epidemiological diagnosis (suspected or probable) of COVID-19
April 2020 International guidelines for certification and classification (coding) of COVID-19 as cause of death were published in 7 languages.
September 2020 A set of additional codes upon request by member states were activated to be able to document or flag conditions that occur in the context of COVID-19. In particular the need for disambiguation between acute disease, late effects or lengthy course led to the neutral formulation “post-covid”. This term does not pre-empt any etiopathological links, and leaves space for linking any condition to a preceding acute COVID.
- Personal history of COVID-19
- Post COVID-19 condition
- Multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19
January 2021 A set of additional codes were activated for:
- Immunization to prevent COVID-19
- Adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
International guidelines for certification and classification (coding) of COVID-19 as cause of death
This document provides instructions for coding and certification of deaths due to COVID-19. The instructions align with the WHO definition of deaths caused by COVID-19 and ICD, and ensure feasibility in all settings.
The coding guidelines are very technical and only include some template cases. Questions may arise in daily work due to the inexorable richness of medical language and practice in certification. Support can be provided through the closest WHO-FIC Collaborating Centre or icd@who.int.
The guidelines for certifiers aim at physicians and show best practice. Certifiers should receive their instructions as a separate document, without the coding guidelines.
COVID-19 coding updates
Update 3 & 4 in relation to COVID-19 coding in ICD-10
A set of additional categories were activated in ICD-10 to be able to document or flag presentation for conditions that occur in the context of COVID-19:
- Personal history of COVID-19
- Post COVID-19 condition
- Multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19
- Immunization to prevent COVID-19
- Adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine