The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announces the release of Fiscal Year 2008 updates for the Clinical Classifications Software for ICD-9-CM, and the new CCS categories from the Mental Health/Substance Abuse Clinical Classifications Software (CCS-MHSA). These files can be used with databases available from the Agency's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) or other administrative health care databases.

The Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) for ICD-9-CM is a diagnosis and procedure categorization scheme that can be employed in many types of projects analyzing data on diagnoses and procedures. CCS is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The ICD-9-CM's array of codes - currently at over 13,600 diagnosis codes and 3,700 procedure codes - are collapsed into a smaller, more manageable number of clinically meaningful categories. For researchers interested in presenting descriptive statistics, CCS can be more useful than individual ICD-9-CM codes. For example, CCS can be used to identify populations for disease- or procedure-specific studies, or to develop statistical reports providing information (such as charges and length of stay) about relatively specific conditions.

Now included in the CCS are categories from the Mental Health Substance Abuse Clinical Classifications Software (CCS-MHSA). These categories replace the original CCS categories for mental health and substance abuse. The CCS single-level software includes the CCS-MHSA general categories, and the CCS multi-level software includes the CCS-MHSA specific categories. For more information on the integration, please see the 2008 Software and User's Guide.

The Clinical Classifications Software is available for download from the Tools & Software page on the HCUP-US Website. For more information on the CCS, please visit the Clinical Classifications Software page, or contact the HCUP Central Distributor by e-mail at HCUPDistributor@ahrq.gov.