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International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

There are two related classifications of diseases with similar titles, and a third classification on functioning and disability. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the classification used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates.

International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)

The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) is based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ninth Revision, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). ICD-9-CM is the official system of assigning codes to diagnoses and procedures associated with hospital utilization in the United States.

ICD-9-CM is used to code and classify morbidity data from the inpatient and outpatient records, physician offices, and most National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) surveys. NCHS serves as the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for the Family of International Classifications for North America and in this capacity is responsible for coordination of all official disease classification activities in the United States relating to the ICD and its use, interpretation, and periodic revision.

The ICD-9-CM code set consists of:

• a tabular list containing a numerical list of the disease code numbers in tabular form;
• an alphabetical index to the disease entries; and
• a classification system for surgical, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures (alphabetic index and tabular list).

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are the U.S. governmental agencies responsible for overseeing all changes and modifications to the ICD-9-CM.

ICD-9-CM is maintained by federal government agencies NCHS and CMS.