Abstract
UK primary care coding of covid-19 is a mess: we need to stop the use of bad codes, and migrate from the use of ugly to good codes, but will only be able to do so when they are finally released . Key data computerised medical record (CMR) systems are recorded using ’codes’, to standardise recording and so attendances about a medical problem can be linked.1 At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there was neither international agreement about nomenclature nor codes available in primary …
Highlights
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there was neither international agreement about nomenclature nor codes available in primary care computerised medical record (CMR) with which to record exposure, testing, or infection
Five temporary codes were added to all the primary care CMR systems using the ‘2019 nCoV (Wuhan)’ label in January 2020
NHS Digital, the NHS coding organisation, released a more extensive set of SNOMED CT concepts named ‘2019 nCoV’ because the use of ‘Wuhan’ had been deprecated; these codes were in turn replaced by ‘SARS –CoV-2’ 2
Summary
Key data computerised medical record (CMR) systems are recorded using ’codes’, to standardise recording and so attendances about a medical problem can be linked.[1] At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there was neither international agreement about nomenclature nor codes available in primary care CMRs with which to record exposure, testing, or infection. Five temporary codes were added to all the primary care CMR systems using the ‘2019 nCoV (Wuhan)’ label in January 2020. NHS Digital, the NHS coding organisation, released a more extensive set of SNOMED CT concepts named ‘2019 nCoV (novel coronavirus)’ because the use of ‘Wuhan’ had been deprecated; these codes were in turn replaced by ‘SARS –CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2)’ 2
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