HCUP - Tool for Classifying Mental Health and Substance Abuse Diagnoses

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) announced the availability of a new tool for researchers working in the fields of mental health and substance abuse.

The Clinical Classification Software for Mental Health and Substance Abuse (CCS-MHSA) assigns variables that identify mental health and substance abuse-related diagnoses in hospital discharge records using the diagnosis coding of ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification).

CCS-MHSA can be used with any data that include ICD-9-CM diagnosis information and can be adapted to work with the particular software a researcher is using.

This original software provides a method for classifying diagnoses or procedures into clinically meaningful categories that help to facilitate aggregate statistical reporting.

Like all HCUP tools and software, the CCS-MHSA is free and can be downloaded from the HCUP-US Website.