Nordic Collaboration in NordDRG System Maintenance

Kristiina Kahur ^a

Introduction
The Nordic Casemix Centre (NCC) leads a collaborative effort involving Nordic countries- Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden-alongside Estonia and Latvia as collabora- tive partners, focusing on the development and maintenance of NordDRG system. NordDRG is a casemix system which relies on primary classifications such as ICD-10 and the NOMESCO Classification of Surgical Procedures (NCSP). This abstract explores different tools and other enablers crucial to the on-going development of the NordDRG system. During the presenta- tion examples will be provided to elaborate and visualize the everyday work on the mainte- nance and development of NordDRG system.

Methods
To facilitate cooperation and NordDRG system development, several tools are utilized:

• NordDRG Maintenance System (NDMS): A program (rule editor) for maintaining and updat- ing the NordDRG national definitions, allowing export in various formats. The master version is managed by the NCC. A stand-alone version (equivalent to the latest production version of NDMS) is available for national organizations.
• Maintenance of Basic Classifications (MBC): An integrated module within NDMS, linking national diagnosis, procedure, and ATC codes to 'backbone' classifications (ICD+, NCSP+, ATC+).
• Nordic DRG Grouper: A program that assigns patient information into DRGs based on NordDRG definition tables. It is incorporated into NDMS and is available as well as a stand- alone version.
• NordDRG Forum: A virtual communication platform facilitating communication between the Expert Group and the NCC. The Forum also allows to document all issues that are relevant for the NordDRG system updating process.

In addition, the work is facilitated by NordDRG Expert Group - the primary advisory group, consisting of experts from participating countries, meeting biannually to discuss updates and developments of NordDRG system.

Results
Through the coordinated use of different NordDRG tools, and the expertise of the NordDRG Expert Group, the NCC continuously maintains and updates the NordDRG definition tables for each national organization. The intellectual property and accuracy of national tables rest with the respective national organizations.

Conclusions
The maintenance and updates of the NordDRG system are based on a structured and collab- orative effort, utilizing the NordDRG tools and input from the Expert Group. The work is co- ordinated by the NCC. The combined contributions of different enablers collectively contrib- ute to the system's efficacy. This collaborative model may serve as a benchmark for other regions or countries seeking to enhance their DRG systems.


^a Nordic Casemix Centre, Finland

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