Capturing Health Information: A Perspectives Paper

Abstract

In a recent study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Mathers et al. (2005) discussed the current status of global reporting of mortality data, and several indicators of quality and completeness of coded data were examined. Unfortunately, no recognition was attributed to the capacity, knowledge and skills of individual coders to impact upon the quality of the data (Walker 2006). This paper explores some of the quality issues relating to coders, as identified in an international needs assessment study conducted through a joint collaboration between the Education Committee of the World Health Organization Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) and the International Federation of Health Records Organizations (IFHRO) (Walker & McKenzie 2004). The study provides the first comprehensive view of coders of mortality and morbidity data internationally. This paper reports selected results from that survey, highlighting the need for recognised standards of uniform education for coders internationally.