Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Diagnostic information within administrative data bases is generally in the form of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The purpose of this article is to introduce ICD-9-CM, to review its strengths and limitations, and to suggest ways that it can be used through administrative files for assessing the quality of hospital care.
Lisa I. Iezzoni (1990) studied this question.