Best practice in the management of clinical coding services: Insights from a project in the Republic of Ireland, Part 1

Introduction: This article presents some of the results of a year-long project in the Republic of Ireland to review the quality of the hospital inpatient enquiry data for its use in activity-based funding (ABF). This is the first of two papers regarding best practice in the management of clinical coding services. Methods: Four methods were used to address this aspect of the project, namely a literature review, a workshop, an assessment of the coding services in 12 Irish hospitals by structured interviews of the clinical coding managers, and a medical record audit of the clinical codes in 10 hospitals. Results: The results included here are those relating to the quality of the medical records, coding work allocation and supervision processes, data quality control measures, communication with clinicians, and the visibility of clinical coders, their managers, and the coding service. Conclusion: The project found instances of best practice in the study hospitals but also found several areas needing improvement. These included improving the structure and content of the medical record, clinician engagement with the clinical coding teams and the ABF process, and the use of data quality control measures.