Comparing ICD-Data Across Countries: A Case for Visualization?

We present our preliminary results of an international survey on the practical adoption and use of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) from a visualization and visual analytics perspective. The ICD system, in different versions, is globally used for coding morbidity and mortality statistics, however, coding practices vary across countries. Our survey includes questions about hospital data collection systems, use of features in ICD, and training of ICD coding specialists. Variations in ICD could hinder comparability and limit generalizability of observed findings. Our preliminary results establish the current state of ICD use and training internationally, and will ultimately be valuable to the World Health Organization to further research on how to improve ICD coding, and enhance international comparisons of health data. From a visualization and visual analytics perspective, the current differences in adoption and use of ICD poses challenges and opportunities. For example, when morbidity-data from two countries differ in their coding, can we still compare data from these countries, and if so, then under which circumstances? We discuss how visualization and visual analytics might help in these situations.