Diagnosis clusters adapted for ICD-9-CM and ICHPPC-2

Abstract

An ad hoc committee of the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) was appointed to adapt the diagnosis clusters instrument for use with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM) and the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care (ICHPPC-2). This article describes the development and testing of the final roster of 110 diagnosis clusters for family physicians. Almost 90 percent of all diagnoses recorded by family physicians in a variety of settings were included in the clusters. The diagnosis clusters can be used in the analysis of large databases and facilitate comparisons between different providers and practices.