E-Update December 2014
National Collections and Reporting
This E-Update contains articles on the following topics:

Ministry of Health Office Relocation

Ministry of Health Office Christmas Closure

Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) Allocation for Maternity and Dagger/Asterisk Event Records

New Zealand Casemix Framework for Publicly Funded Hospitals 2015/16 – WIESNZ15

3M™ Health Information Systems (HIS) Web Codefinder™ – New Zealand Licence Agreement

Health Information Association of Australia Limited (HIMAA)
Ministry of Health Office Relocation
Ministry of Health staff at 133 Molesworth Street and Brandon Street offices (Medsafe, Cancer Control and
Ethic Committees) relocated to the Freyberg Building, 20 Aitken Street, Thorndon during October and
November 2014.
The National Collections and Reporting (NCR) team – Analytical Services, Classification and Terminology, Data
Management Services, Data Warehouse and Statistics and Reporting are located on level 10.
Postal address, phone and fax numbers have not changed.
Postal address is:
Street address is:
Ministry of Health
20 Aitken Street
PO Box 5013
Thorndon
Wellington 6145
Wellington 6011
Ministry of Health Office Christmas Closure
Availability of the National Collections and Reporting Team – file loads and Coding Helpdesk
The Ministry of Health will close for the Christmas/New Year break at 4.00pm on Wednesday 24
December 2014 and will re-open on Monday 5 January 2015.
Data Management Services will be closed during this period, however some file loads may occur
but there will be no compliance testing for District Health Boards (DHBs) and Private Hospitals.
No fix files can be created for DHBs over this period either.
Limited file loads may occur for the following National Collections:
 National Minimum Dataset (NMDS)
 National Booking Reporting System (NBRS)
 Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data (PRIMHD).
National Non-Admitted Patient Collection (NNPAC) and National Immunisation Register (NIR) files
will continue to be processed as these file loads are automated.
The Coding Helpdesk will be unattended from 24 December 2014 through to Tuesday 20 January 2015.
Page 1
E-Update December 2014
National Collections and Reporting
Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) Allocation for Maternity and Dagger/Asterisk Event Records
Following the implementation of ICD-10-AM/ACHI 8th Edition an AR-DRG grouping anomaly between the 3MTM
HIS CodefinderTM and the Ministry’s batch grouper was identified. The anomaly identified affects maternity
event records.
After investigations and consultation with the AR-DRG classification providers the Ministry was informed that
additional logic is required for maternity and dagger/asterisk cases prior to event records being processed
through the batch grouper.
Current data process is: DHBs report coded data using ICD-10-AM/ACHI 8th Edition which is back mapped to
ICD-10-AM/ACHI 6th Edition, then AR-DRG v6.0x grouping occurs and WIESNZ14 filters are applied.
Maternity anomaly
The Ministry’s batch grouper is currently allocating DRG O60C Vaginal delivery single uncomplicated W/O other
condition where the diagnosis code O80 Single spontaneous delivery is sequenced as principal diagnosis when
codes from A34, F53.- and Oxx.x are assigned as additional diagnoses. The DRG allocation for these maternity
event records should be either O60B Vaginal delivery W/O catastrophic or severe CC or O60A Vaginal delivery
W catastrophic or severe CC.
Dagger/asterisk
The ICD-10-AM 6th Edition dagger/asterisk convention was that the dagger (aetiology) code should always be
coded before the asterisk (manifestation). However in ICD-10-AM 8th Edition, this convention has been
relaxed and the asterisk may now be coded before the dagger which may impact on the principal diagnosis
selection.
For event records with a principal diagnosis of an asterisk code and an additional diagnosis of a dagger code,
the role of these two codes must be swapped for grouping purposes; the dagger code must be used as the
principal diagnosis and the asterisk code must be used as an additional diagnosis for grouping to previous ARDRG versions.
Solution
The Ministry obtained the additional logic required for maternity and dagger/asterisk event records from the
AR-DRG classification providers and following some initial testing completed last month the event records
processed have resulted in the appropriate DRGs. Further testing is required then the plan is to release the
logic in our system early next year after the IT freeze has been lifted.
The Data Management team have advised that maternity (O80) and dagger/asterisk event records currently
loaded in the National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) will be identified and re-loaded. The impact on DHBs should
be minimal.
We will keep you informed as to the progress on this issue.
Page 2
E-Update December 2014
National Collections and Reporting
New Zealand Casemix Framework for Publicly Funded Hospitals 2015/16 – WIESNZ15
The casemix framework document (WIESNZ15) has been updated (v1.1 December 2014) and is available for
download from the Ministry’s Health Statistics website, click here
Changes between WIESNZ14 (2014/15) and WIESNZ15 (2015/16) are:
 A new DRG mapping for pelvic exenteration surgery so that event records group to NZ DRG N01Z Pelvic
evisceration and radical vulvectomy
 A new co-payment for treatment of cerebral aneurysms (CA) via endovascular repair
 The scoliosis eligibility rule has been extended to cover the DHB funding agency rather than the facility
 77 new same day (SD) or one day (OD) designations were introduced to better direct revenue to
admitted patient events rather than emergency department (ED) or similar short stay events
 Existing co-payment values were reviewed. Co-payment values have been adjusted for AAA, ASD and
scoliosis. No adjustments were made to the EPS co-payment as further analysis was deemed necessary.
Live donor nephrectomy (LDN) and mechanical ventilation (MV) were not reviewed
 New purchase unit code created for Metabolic Services M24001 Metabolic services – inpatient services
(DRGs)
 Primary maternity was reviewed. Tables for initial filters, flags, RVUs and the flow diagram have all
been revised
 Revision of the payment for tonsils and adenoid (T&A) procedures with a sleep apnoea diagnosis to be
funded at a similar level to T&A cases without a sleep apnoea diagnosis. This was achieved by giving
the DRG E02C Other respiratory system OR procedures W/O CC a SD designation
 A new section listing the NZ DRGs and DRG mappings has been added to the end of the framework
document
• A new facility has been added to the casemix eligible facilities list. The facility is: Mater Misericordiae
Health Services, Brisbane (9136)
• Same day blood transfusion – PU allocation revised
• Deleted wording in section ‘Designated Hospital for Casemix Revenue’.
3M™ Health Information Systems (HIS) Web Codefinder™ – New Zealand Licence Agreement
The Ministry holds the National 3MTM CodefinderTM and Grouper License Agreement with 3MTM HIS on behalf
of District Health Boards (DHBs). This License Agreement is due to expire 30 September 2015.
In accordance with Government procurement guidelines the Ministry intends to approach the Australia/NZ
supplier market in January 2015 by way of a Request for Information (RFI) to assess clinical coding and
grouping application solutions based on the Commonwealth of Australia's AR-DRG Classification System. The
four organisations (3M, Laeta, Clarisoft and Visasys) that are licensed to develop AR-DRG/ICD-10-AM
classification products have already been advised of this intention.
Following the RFI process the Ministry will fully consult with DHBs when drawing up a new contract for the
provision of clinical coding and grouping software from 1 October 2015.
Page 3
E-Update December 2014
National Collections and Reporting
Health Information Association of Australia Limited (HIMAA) – Clinical Coder Certification Currency
Provided below is the information from the HIMAA Education Services website about New Zealand Clinical
Coder Certification 8th Edition Currency.
Clinical Coder Certification Currency
“Clinical Coder Certification 8th Edition Currency applications for New Zealand students open on 1 February
2015 and close 28 February 2015. The application form will be available on 1 February 2015. There will be an
application fee of $70.00. The test will be mailed to applicants on 2 March 2015 and should be returned to
HIMAA by 31 March 2015. You can do your currency test on a day of your choosing during March. Marks will be
emailed to all applicants mid-April 2015. A supervisor is not required.”
If you require further information please contact Cheryl Smith, Administration Officer Education Services.
Email: education@himaa.org.au
Website link: http://himaa2.org.au/education/?q=node/162
Wishing you all a safe and wonderful Christmas
Please contact the coding_helpdesk@moh.govt.nz if you have any questions about the content in this NCR EUpdate.
Page 4