Family Physician's Overview of the ICD-10 Diagnostic Coding System

Objective: ICD which is translated into Turkish as “Uluslararas？ Hastal？k S？n？flamas？” is very important for epidemiological studies and the management of health services. Our study aimed to evaluate the ICD-10 Diagnostic Coding System with the view of family physicians. Methods: The study was conducted between February and May 2016 and it is a descriptive study on family physicians working in Sakarya. The research population consisted of all family physicians (292) in Sakarya. Results: Fifty-five (18.8%) of the study group reported that they had fully and correctly recorded diagnoses in the ICD-10 system. Fifty-six (19.2%) of the participants stated that they had received training about the ICD-10 system and, 190 (65.1%) reported that training was necessary. There were 39 (13.4%) physicians who stated that the ICD-10 coding system contained every diagnostic code about their department. 243 (83.2%) of the participants, reported that they had entered an approximating code when they could not find the ICD-10 diagnostic code. Conclusion: As a result, few of the family physicians had been trained in ICD-10, and most of them were not trained and, experienced various difficulties in using the system. It will be beneficial to increase the number of doctors who receive training for efficient and effective use of the ICD-10 system