Medical Resource Planning: The Need to Use a Standardized Diagnostic System

Abstract : Combat preparedness requires accurate projections of the medical resources that will be needed in a theater of operations. The Deployable Medical Systems (DEPMEDS) initiative projects the required medical supplies based on the anticipated frequencies of occurrence within a set of Patient Conditions (PCs). A recent investigation of Marine hospitalizations in Vietnam found that the PCs accounted for only 73 percent of the battle injuries and 63 percent of the disease admissions. The present investigation examined the disparity between PC codes and actual hospital diagnoses. The specificity and multiplicity of the PC criteria often prevented accurate conversions from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) codes in use at treatment facilities. Some PC criteria could be accommodated using similar yet inexact matches while other were not translatable. Additionally, some hospital admissions were unaccounted for using the PC system. A diagnoses system based on ICD-9 classifications and encompassing all admissions in a theater of operations was proposed. Keywords: Medical resource planning, Patient conditions, Battle casualties, U.S. marines, Vietnam, Disease and non-battle injuries, Medical services, Standardization, Diagnostic system, Medicine.