Clinical specialties code N[N]

Guide for use:

CODE 13 Dentistry

'Dentistry' excludes oral and maxillofacial surgery.

CODE 15 Diagnostic radiology

'Diagnostic radiology' includes diagnostic ultrasound.

CODE 16 Otolaryngology

'Otolaryngology' includes ear, nose, throat, head and neck surgeons.

CODE 22 General medicine

'General medicine' includes general and internal medicine physicians and endoscopy.

CODE 25 General surgery

'General surgery' includes surgical procedures, including colorectal surgery.

CODE 27 Gynaecology only

'Gynaecology only' includes gynaecologists who only diagnose, treat and aid in the prevention of disorders of the female reproductive system (RANZCOG 2011).

CODE 31 Midwifery

'Midwifery' includes registered midwives only.

CODE 35 Nuclear medicine

'Nuclear medicine' includes radiotherapy and radiation oncology.

CODE 36 Nursing–general

'Nursing-general' includes enrolled and registered nurses.

CODE 37 Nursing–nurse practitioner

'Nursing–nurse practitioner' includes registered nurse practitioners only.

CODE 39 Obstetrics and gynaecology

'Obstetrics and gynaecology' includes specialists who carry out gynaecological examinations, diagnosis and operations on women; provide medical care before, during and after childbirth; and treat infertility by chemical or operative measures (RANZCOG 2011).

CODE 40 Obstetrics only

'Obstetrics only' includes obstetricians who only provide medical care before, during and after childbirth (RANZCOG 2011).

CODE 41 Occupational and environmental medicine

'Occupational and environmental medicine' should be used for doctors only; occupational therapists should be recorded at Code 67.

CODE 46 Paediatrics

'Paediatrics' excludes neonatal or perinatal medicine and paediatric surgery.

CODE 49 Pathology

'Pathology' includes general pathology, anatomical pathology, chemical pathology, pathological haematology, pathological immunology and clinical microbiology.

CODE 59 Respiratory and sleep medicine

'Respiratory and sleep medicine' includes thoracic medicine.

CODE 67 Other allied health (including complementary medicine)

'Other allied health (including complementary medicine)' includes: acupuncturist, allergy and asthma consultant, alternative health services, audiologist, audiometrist, Chinese medicine therapist, chiropodist, dental hygienist, dental technician, drug and alcohol counsellor, hygiene consultant, naturopath, occupational health and safety practitioner, occupational therapist, optometrist, social worker, speech pathologist, speech therapist and therapeutic masseur.

CODE 68 Other hospital-based medical practitioners

'Other hospital-based medical practitioners' includes junior doctors, resident doctors, house officers, interns, and other clinicians who do not have a specialty.

CODE 71 Anaesthesia

'Anaesthesia' includes general anaesthesia, paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care anaesthesia.

CODE 82 Pain medicine

'Pain medicine' includes specialists in managing severe pain problems in the areas of acute pain, cancer pain and chronic pain (Faculty of Pain Medicine 2003).

CODE 97 Not applicable

'Not applicable' should be used where no clinical or medical administration staff were involved in the incident.

CODE 99 Not stated/inadequately described

'Not stated/inadequately described' should be used when the information is not currently available. Not stated/inadequately described should not be used when a claim is closed.

Comments:

The general aim of this list is to include all categories that might be of relevance to medical indemnity claims. The medical specialties included in this value domain are taken from the List of Australian Recognised Medical Specialties, a list approved by the Minister for Health and Ageing (AMC 2009) and from the lists of clinical specialties developed by various health authorities for use in their medical indemnity data collections.

The categories of medical specialists align well between the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (2006) National Claims and Policies Database (NCPD) and the Medical Indemnity National Collection (MINC). The NCPD specifications have separate codes for several allied health and complementary fields which are subsumed within the MINC category ‘Other allied health (including complementary medicine)'. In the NCPD, ‘student practitioner or intern’ is a separate category. The MINC codes students based on the speciality they are training in, and classifies interns with ‘Other hospital-based medical practitioners’ (AIHW 2011).

Recording the specialty of the individual clinician at this data element does not imply that the individual was 'at fault'. These individuals may or may not be defendants in the medical indemnity claim.