Healthcare Codes#

Reference of medical / pharmaceutical / billing classification systems an operator may meet, ICD, SNOMED, LOINC, ATC, CPT, HL7. Useful for healthcare-data forensics, breach response, and biomedical OSINT.

For broader breach context, see Data Breaches. For biosafety / biological-research context, see Hazardous Materials.

Diagnosis classification#

System

Notes

ICD-10

International Classification of Diseases v10; WHO; widely used outside US.

ICD-10-CM

US Clinical Modification (CMS).

ICD-10-PCS

US Procedure Coding System (inpatient).

ICD-11

WHO; effective Jan 2022; multilingual; granular.

DSM-5-TR

mental-health manual (APA, US-centric); 2022 text rev.

SNOMED CT

comprehensive clinical terminology; IHTSDO; used in EHR.

ICPC-2

International Classification of Primary Care; family medicine.

Lab / observations#

System

Notes

LOINC

Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes; labs + radiology + clinical observations; Regenstrief Institute.

UCUM

Unified Code for Units of Measure; pairs with LOINC.

RadLex

radiology terminology.

Procedures (US billing)#

System

Notes

CPT

Current Procedural Terminology; AMA; physician procedures.

HCPCS Level II

DME, supplies, drugs not in CPT.

DRG / MS-DRG

Diagnosis-Related Groups; CMS inpatient bundling.

APC

Ambulatory Payment Classification; outpatient.

Drugs / pharmacy#

System

Notes

ATC

Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical; WHO; the international standard.

INN

International Nonproprietary Names; generic drug names (paracetamol, ibuprofen, etc.).

RxNorm

US standardized drug nomenclature; NLM.

NDC

National Drug Code; FDA; US-specific manufacturer + product + package.

SNOMED CT drug

SNOMED’s pharmaceutical hierarchy.

EU EMC / dm+d

EU + UK equivalents.

DEA Schedule I-V

US controlled-substance schedule.

Devices#

System

Notes

GMDN

Global Medical Device Nomenclature.

UDI

Unique Device Identification (FDA, EU MDR).

GUDID

US Global UDI Database.

EUDAMED

EU equivalent.

Interoperability#

Standard

Notes

HL7 v2.x

message-based EHR integration; widespread legacy.

HL7 v3

ill-fated XML revision.

HL7 FHIR R4 / R5

REST + JSON / XML resource model; the modern standard.

CDA

Clinical Document Architecture; HL7-based.

DICOM

imaging interchange standard (radiology, pathology).

IHE profiles

Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise; cross-vendor workflows.

HL7 v2.5+ ADT

admission / discharge / transfer messages.

HL7 v2.5+ ORM/ORU

order / result.

NCPDP

US pharmacy / e-prescribing.

X12 270/271/278/ 837/835

US claims + eligibility + auth (HIPAA EDI).

HL7 SMART on FHIR

OAuth2-based EHR app launch.

TEFCA / QHIN

US national health-information exchange (2024+).

ePrivacy / GDPR

EU data protection in health.

US regulatory codes#

Code

Notes

HIPAA Privacy Rule

PHI handling.

HIPAA Security Rule

technical / admin / physical safeguards.

HIPAA Breach Rule

notification within 60 days.

HITECH

electronic-records incentives; expanded HIPAA.

21 CFR Part 11

FDA electronic-records integrity.

21 CFR Part 820

QSR (quality-system regulation) for devices.

DEA CSOS

controlled-substances ordering.

PDMP

state prescription-drug monitoring programmes.

GINA

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

42 CFR Part 2

substance-use disorder confidentiality.

EU / international regulatory#

Code

Notes

EU MDR 2017/745

Medical Device Regulation.

EU IVDR 2017/746

in-vitro diagnostics.

GDPR Art 9

health-data processing rules.

GMP / GLP / GCP

Good Manufacturing / Lab / Clinical Practice.

ICH guidelines

international harmonisation.

WHO IHR

International Health Regulations 2005.

PIC/S

pharmaceutical inspection co-operation.

EMA / EC procedures

EU pharma + device approval.

NHS Digital Code of

Practice (UK).

Disease / outbreak surveillance#

Source

Notes

WHO disease outbreak news

per-disease reporting (cholera, polio, MERS, H5N1).

WHO Health Emerg. Dashboard

PHEIC determinations (above).

ProMED-mail

crowd-sourced infectious-disease alerts.

ECDC TESSy

EU surveillance.

US CDC MMWR

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

WOAH WAHIS

animal-disease global database.

GISAID

flu / SARS-CoV-2 genome sharing.

GenBank / SRA

NIH genetic-data archives.

Operator notes#

  • PHI sensitivity, US HIPAA, EU GDPR Article 9 health- data, similar regimes elsewhere classify clinical data as high-sensitive; breach response governed by these rules.

  • De-identification, Safe Harbor (HIPAA) lists 18 identifiers to strip; Expert Determination is the alternative.

  • Code-set licensing, SNOMED CT free for IHTSDO members (most countries); LOINC + RxNorm + ICD-11 free; CPT requires AMA license; AMA EBR also handles intersection codes.

  • EHR vendors, Epic, Oracle Cerner, Meditech, Allscripts, Athena, NextGen dominate US; SAP, GE, Philips elsewhere.

  • Outbreak analysis, ProMED + WHO + national health ministries; correlate with GISAID for pathogen genome.

References#