POLICY RESEARCH PROGRAMME INVITATION TO TENDER

ASSESSMENT OF SYSTEMS FOR CLASSIFICATION OF CLINICAL DIAGNOSES, INTERVENTIONS AND CASEMIX

Last year, the Department of Health invited tenders for a project to review the current healthcare classifications system in England and to compare it with at least five other classifications. None of the tenders were accepted and, as a result, the structure of the project has been revised and is now being readvertised. Organisations which submitted tenders previously are encouraged to reapply.

New policy directions for healthcare such as the move of care outside hospitals, greater patient choice and flexibility in commissioning, mean that the current classification systems (ICD for diagnosis, OPCS for procedure and HRGs for casemix) are in need of revision and possible replacement.

The Department therefore wishes, through its Policy Research Programme, to commission a project to review the current system and to compare it with up to five other systems. This will be a single stage project with interested parties submitting details of their intended comparators as part of the tendering process. The project is expected to be completed within four months at a cost of less than £200k.

The team appointed will have good knowledge of the NHS and of international casemix and clinical coding issues, understanding of healthcare management and finance, strong analytical skills and facility in working with multiple stakeholders. Partnerships across consultancies and academic centres are welcome.

To access the research brief and application form, please visit the National Institute for Health Research Central Commissioning Facility (NIHR-CCF) website at http://www.nihr-ccf.org.uk and follow the instructions under the "PRP" section of calls and competitions. Final proposals must be submitted to the Department by Friday 9th May 2008.