Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group

This page provides information about the Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group. It includes:

The role of the Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group

  • Establish a thorough understanding on the current standards and practices at hospitals for the coding of stroke and how clinical documentation is used in the process, including International Classification of Diseases, tenth edition (ICD-10), future planning for ICD-11, Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) and other relevant disease classifications;
  • Develop, implement and evaluate an education program for improving clinical documentation and ICD-10 coding for stroke;
  • Monitor the coding quality of stroke admissions via annual comparisons of the clinical diagnosis in the AuSCR and the diagnostic codes from the administrative data and specific validation studies to assess the impact of the education program;
  • If applicable, seek advice on how to apply for amendments to the Australian Coding Standards for stroke (e.g. use of brain imaging results);
  • Share knowledge on coding and statistical techniques for the preparation of datasets and for the analyses of linked data;
  • Collaborate on the writing of grants or publications to improve clinical documentation and coding for stroke.

A brief history of the Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group

The Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group was established in August 2020 as part of an initiative to improve clinical documentation and coding for stroke in these countries.

The group comprises health information managers working in hospitals, government institutions and academia, as well as data-linkage experts, database managers, epidemiologists, neurologists, statisticians, and representatives from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group Members

Office bearers:

Associate Professor Monique Kilkenny (Chairperson)

A/Prof Monique Kilkenny (PhD, MPH, Grad Dip Epidemiol/Biostat, B App Sci [MRA]) is Head of the Big Data, Epidemiology and Prevention Division within the Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Monash University. A/Prof Kilkenny is a highly experienced epidemiologist who has worked in research for over 30 years at National and International level.

Email: monique.kilkenny@monash.edu

Ailie Sanders (Coordinator)

Ailie Sanders (M HIM, B Nut. Diet.) is a Research Assistant in the Big Data, Epidemiology and Prevention Division within the Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Monash University. Ailie is the coordinator for the Australia and New Zealand Stroke Coding Working Group.

Email: ailie.sanders@monash.edu

Other members

Justan Banihashemi

Catherine Burns

Prof Dominique Cadilhac 

Helen Carter

Ngoc Dang

Susan Doyle

Prof Valery Feigin

Nicola Hall

Mary Kouvas

Miriam Lum On

Dr Muideen Olaiya

Prof Anna Ranta

Carla Read

Sally Richardson

Current projects

Stroke Clinical Coding & Documentation Education Program for Clinical Coders in Australia and New Zealand

  • The primary aim of this project is to develop, implement and evaluate an online education session aimed at improving clinical coding and documentation of stroke episodes admitted to hospitals.
  • The second part of this project is to expand the program and provide an online education session for clinicians to improve stroke documentation.

Validation of the accuracy of clinical diagnoses in the Stroke Registry and ICD-10-AM administrative data with imaging reports

  • The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the accuracy of (i) the clinical diagnoses and (ii) ICD-10-AM administrative data in the AuSCR, when compared to the diagnoses from imaging reports.

Resources

Stroke Clinical Coding & Documentation Education Program for Clinical Coders in Australia and New Zealand