Information about external causes in hospitalization records: medical auditors knowledge and opinions after an intervention - doi: 10.4025/actascihealthsci.v34i1.8923

Abstract

A questionnaire-based exploratory cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate knowledge of medical auditors who had or had not participated in a medical intervention Londrina. The procedure’s aim was to improve primary and secondary diagnosis’ codification of external causes of hospitalization and to identify factors that, in their opinion, influenced the quality of such information. Questionnaires filled by eleven doctors, six in Londrina, Paraná State, (75%) where the intervention took place, and five in Maringá, Paraná State, (100%) were compared. Despite intervention, mistakes or lack of responses were reported with regard to the principal and secondary diagnoses codes (100% in Londrina and 80% in Maringá). The main factors associated with the quality of information comprised correct filling of the Authorization of Hospitalization (AIH) (six cases), training professionals for the correct production of data of the Hospital Information System (five cases), simplification of the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) (four cases), and lack of time to consult the ICD-10 (four cases). The intervention was not sufficient to change the medical auditors’ knowledge related to information on external causes. Other measures are required to guarantee more specificity of registers and adequate codifications.