Who is primarily responsible for the updating and maintenance of ICD related codes?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is primarily responsible for the updating and maintenance of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) related codes. The ICD is a critical global standard for health information, used for reporting and monitoring diseases and health conditions. The WHO is the international public health agency tasked with developing and maintaining this classification system to ensure it reflects the latest health trends, medical knowledge, and research findings.

The WHO regularly updates the ICD to improve its effectiveness and relevance and updates the classification to incorporate new diseases and revisions in health concepts. As part of this process, the WHO collaborates with member states, governments, and various health professionals, ensuring that the system aligns with global health priorities and practices.

Other organizations play important roles in health and medical coding, but they do not have the primary responsibility for ICD codes. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may utilize the ICD for mortality and morbidity statistics in the United States, and the American Medical Association (AMA) is involved in the development of the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes rather than ICD codes. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) focuses on biomedical research, thus not directly involved with the maintenance of ICD codes.