Emergency Care ICD-10-AM Principal Diagnosis Short List
The Emergency Care International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) Principal Diagnosis Short List (EPD Short List) is a list of codes and medical terms based on the ICD-10-AM classification and aims to provide a nationally consistent approach to classifying principal diagnosis reporting for emergency departments and emergency services. Updates to the EPD Short List are made in conjunction with new editions of ICD-10-AM.
A principal diagnosis is defined as the diagnosis established at the conclusion of an emergency care episode and is mainly responsible for occasioning the attendance following consideration of clinical assessment, as represented by a code. The correct principal diagnosis helps identify the reasons people access the Australian emergency care system and can be used for the purposes of research, education, service planning and administration. This information is also used to facilitate payment of health services, determine utilisation patterns and evaluate the appropriateness of healthcare costs.
The EPD Short List Twelfth Edition is used for reporting emergency care principal diagnoses through the Non-admitted patient emergency department care national minimum data set (NAPEDC NMDS) and the Emergency service care national best endeavours data set (ESC NBEDS) from 1 July 2023. The EPD Short List Twelfth Edition was released in May 2023.
The Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) has developed a mapping file between the EPD Short List and the full ICD-10-AM code set. The mapping file contains licensed material from ICD-10-AM and is therefore not available on the IHACPA website. The mapping file can be provided to stakeholders upon request, whereby verification of licensing agreements for ICD-10-AM will be required. Contact our team for further information.
Development of the EPD Short List
In 2013, IHACPA initiated a review to assess long term options for the classification of emergency care services for activity based funding in Australia. The review aimed to drive efficiency and effectiveness of emergency care services through pricing and funding, while considering the collection of data that supports clinical care and other uses such as quality improvement, epidemiological monitoring and health services research. The review revealed strong support for a consistent approach to the national reporting of a principal diagnosis for emergency care presentations.
In response to the review, the Emergency Department ICD-10-AM Principal Diagnosis Short List (ED Short List) was developed in 2015 and adheres to classification principles approved by the Emergency Care Advisory Working Group. The ED Short List went through a public consultation process which was reviewed and further refined by IHACPA and Health Information Managers.
The ED Short List replaced previous reporting inconsistencies whereby states and territories would report principal diagnosis using various code sets, including the:
- Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT)
- International Classification of Diseases – Ninth Revision – Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)
- ICD-10-AM (various editions).
In 2023, IHACPA released the EPD Short List Twelfth Edition. The change of name from the ED Short List to the EPD Short List accommodates the reporting of principal diagnoses for emergency services, which commenced in 2021.
Previous editions of the EPD Short List
The ED Short List Eleventh Edition is used for reporting emergency care principal diagnoses through the 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 NAPEDC NMDS, and the 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 ESC NBEDS data submissions.
In March 2020 and February 2021, the ED Short List Eleventh Edition was updated to classify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and adverse effects to the COVID-19 vaccinations. In April 2022, the ED Short List Eleventh Edition was updated to include additional codes for mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use, poisoning, sunburn and COVID-19.
The ED Short List Tenth Edition is used for reporting emergency care principal diagnoses through the 2018–19 NAPEDC NMDS data submissions.
The ED Short List Ninth Edition is used for reporting emergency care principal diagnoses through the 2018–19 NAPEDC NMDS data submissions.
Use of EPD Short List or ED Short List and associated files are subject to licence arrangements. Any enquiries related to the EPD Short List or the ED Short List should be directed to enquiries.ihacpa@ihacpa.gov.au.