ICD-11 progress reports: Navigating the transition

2024-2025

The Classifications and Terminologies team is actively assessing Canada’s readiness for ICD-11. Here are some quick updates on ICD-11 projects:

• Pan-Canadian ICD-11 Implementation Task Force: We are in the process of identifying jurisdictional representatives to join the task force. Once these representatives are confirmed, a meeting will be scheduled.
• French translation: We are collaborating with the WHO and the French WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) Collaborating Centre to validate the French translation of the ICD-11 MMS (Mortality and Morbidity Statistics). This process will ensure that the French terms used are accurate and appropriate.
• Impact assessment activities: We are actively conducting impact assessment activities related to ICD-11. Our efforts are focused on determining the need for a country-specific version; developing crosswalks to facilitate transition; assessing adoption impacts on federal and jurisdictional data systems and CIHI’s health indicators; and evaluating the clinical utility of ICD-11 across various health care settings, including primary health care and mental health.

2023–2024

ICD-11 readiness assessment results: CIHI consulted with stakeholders and vendors across Canada and conducted an ICD-11 readiness assessment using a range of collection instruments such as surveys, focus groups and interviews. See the executive summary in the ICD-11 summary documents section below.

Highlights of ICD-11 webinar: This webinar provides a high-level overview of new features in ICD-11 and highlights key changes between ICD-11 and ICD-10-CA (the Canadian modification of ICD-10). This is the third webinar CIHI has released on this topic. Recordings and transcripts are available on our Codes, classifications and terminologies web page.

2022–2023 

Webinar update: With WHO’s release of ICD-11 for international use in February 2022, the Introduction to ICD-11 webinar series was retired. 2 new webinars on ICD-11 — Introduction to ICD-11 and Using the ICD-11 Coding Tool — have been released in English and French.

Canadian stability analysis activities (December 2022): Throughout the development of ICD-11, CIHI has been providing recommendations for content enhancement by comparing the content of ICD-10-CA and ICD-11. For more details, refer to Canadian Stability Analysis: Comparing v2018 ICD-10-CA With ICD-11 and Canadian Stability Analysis: Comparison of Selected Set of v2018 ICD-10-CA Codes and ICD-11 in the ICD-11 summary documents section below.

Some of the summary documents below were originally published for WHO-FIC. They have been reformatted for download.

Executive summaries

• Implications of ICD-11 Implementation in Canada: This executive summary aims to understand perspectives on training, education and other necessary preparations for the transition from ICD-10-CA to ICD-11 in Canada.
• Determining the Need for a Canadian Version (“Linearization”) of ICD-11: This executive summary outlines the work undertaken to determine whether a Canadian linearization of ICD-11 will be required to address the unique needs of Canada’s health care systems.
• ICD-11 Readiness Assessment Results, 2023: This executive summary describes key recommendations following consultations with stakeholders and vendors across Canada to understand the landscape of hospital and clinical information system (HIS/CIS) use and the impact that ICD-11 implementation will have on these systems.

Information sheets

• Assessing ICD-11 Implementation in Canada: Leveraging Crosswalks to Evaluate Adoption Impacts and Transition Strategies: This information sheet demonstrates leveraging bidirectional crosswalks to create a comprehensive mapping for the Canadian Congenital Anomalies Surveillance System (CCASS) to evaluate compatibility with and impact on national reporting practices.
• Assessing ICD-11’s Potential for Improved Mental Health Reporting in Canada: This reports the findings of CIHI’s mapping of DSM-5 clinical concepts to ICD-11 and comparison of the level of specificity. With ICD-11’s new structure and updated clinical content, the data derived from DSM-5 and ICD-11 will be much more comparable.
• Assessing the Utility of ICD-11 for Primary Health Care Reporting: This information sheet assesses the feasibility of migrating from ICD-9 to ICD-11 to support physician billing in Canada.
• Canadian Stability Analysis: Addressing the Challenges of Achieving Equivalency With ICD-11 MMS Codes: This information sheet identifies the challenges of achieving equivalency between the ICD-10-CA Canadian-specific codes and their mapping to a broader ICD-11 MMS target stem code.
• Canadian Stability Analysis: Assessment of Canadian-Specific Codes in ICD-10-CA (Version 2018) — Evaluating Equivalency With and Without Postcoordination: This examines whether equivalency can be achieved for the ICD-10-CA Canadian-specific codes in ICD-11 with or without the use of postcoordination.
• Canadian Stability Analysis: Comparing v2018 ICD-10-CA With ICD-11: This summarizes the findings of CIHI’s assessment of the level of specificity when mapping 1 v2018 ICD-10-CA code to 1 or more ICD-11 codes.
• Canadian Stability Analysis: Comparison of Selected Set of v2018 ICD-10-CA Codes and ICD-11: This summarizes the findings of CIHI’s assessment of the level of specificity when mapping 1 v2018 ICD-10-CA code to 1 or more ICD-11 codes.
• Coding Exploration Field Trials — Case Scenarios (Main and Other Condition): A Canadian Perspective: CIHI conducted ICD-11 coding exploration field trials using a multi-phase approach. Each phase introduced new learnings and increased in complexity, from simple introductory diagnostic terms to the capture of main and other conditions. The first 2 phases were conducted in 2020.
• Coding Exploration Field Trials — Simple Diagnostic Terms: A Canadian Perspective: CIHI conducted ICD-11 coding exploration field trials using a multi-phase approach. Each phase introduced new learnings and increased in complexity, from simple introductory diagnostic terms to the capture of main and other conditions.
• Evaluating the Impact of ICD-11 on Canada’s Health Care Information Systems: This describes key recommendations following consultations with stakeholders and vendors across Canada to understand the landscape of hospital and clinical information system (HIS/CIS) use and the impact that ICD-11 implementation will have on these systems.

Questions about CIHI’s work on ICD-11?

icd-11@cihi.ca