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Definition

A code set representing type of clinical specialty of health-care providers.

Representation

Data Type Number
Format N[N]
Maximum character length 2

Values

Value Meaning Start Date End Date
Permissible Values 53 Podiatry
3 Cardiology
4 Cardio-thoracic surgery
5 Chiropractics
6 Clinical genetics
7 Haematology (clinical)
8 Immunology and allergy (clinical)
9 Clinical pharmacology (excluding pharmacy)
11 Cosmetic surgery
13 Dentistry
14 Dermatology
15 Diagnostic radiology
16 Otolaryngology
17 Emergency medicine
18 Endocrinology
21 Gastroenterology and hepatology
22 General medicine
23 General practice–non-procedural
24 General practice–procedural
25 General surgery
26 Geriatric medicine
27 Gynaecology only
28 Infectious diseases
29 Intensive care medicine
30 Medical oncology
31 Midwifery
32 Neurology
33 Neurosurgery
34 Neonatal or perinatal medicine
35 Nuclear medicine
36 Nursing–general
37 Nursing–nurse practitioner
38 Nutrition or dietician
39 Obstetrics and gynaecology
40 Obstetrics only
41 Occupational and environmental medicine
42 Ophthalmology
44 Orthopaedic surgery
45 Osteopathy
46 Paediatrics (general)
47 Paediatric surgery
48 Paramedical and ambulance staff
49 Pathology
50 Pharmacy (excluding clinical pharmacology)
51 Physiotherapy
52 Plastic and reconstructive surgery
54 Psychiatry
55 Psychology
56 Public health medicine
57 Rehabilitation medicine
58 Nephrology
59 Respiratory and sleep medicine
60 Rheumatology
62 Sports and exercise medicine
63 Radiation oncology (therapeutic radiology)
65 Urology
66 Vascular surgery
67 Other allied health (including complementary medicine)
68 Other hospital-based medical practitioner
71 Anaesthesia
72 Maternal-fetal medicine
73 Medical administration
75 Oral and maxillofacial surgery
76 Palliative medicine
77 Urogynaecology
78 Reproductive endocrinology and infertility
79 Addiction medicine
80 Paediatric emergency medicine
81 Sexual health medicine
82 Pain medicine
83 Community child health
84 Gynaecological oncology
85 Obstetrical and gynaecological ultrasound
Supplementary Values 97 Not applicable
99 Not stated/inadequately described

Comments

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 2013).

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; discuss suitable contraceptive methods with referred patients; provide medical care before, during and after childbirth; deliver babies through normal procedures or by caeserean section; examine mothers and babies after childbirth to check for complications; and treat infertility by chemical or operative measures (RANZCOG 2013).

CODE 40 Obstetrics only

'Obstetrics only' includes obstetricians who only provide medical care before, during and after childbirth (RANZCOG 2013).

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 2013) 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 2013).

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.

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2013. Australia's medical indemnity claims 2011–12. Safety and quality of health care series no.14. Cat. no. HSE 137. Canberra: AIHW

AMC (Australian Medical Council) 2013. The List of Australian Recognised Medical Specialties. Canberra. Viewed 17 July 2013, http://www.amc.org.au/images/Recognition/
AMC-list-of-specialties.pdf

APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) 2006. Data specifications National Claims and Policies Database Document Number 3.1. Canberra: APRA

Faculty of Pain Medicine 2003. Application for specialty recognition by the Faculty of Pain Medicine to the Australian Medical Council. Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. Viewed 25 May 2011, http://www.anzca.edu.au/fpm/news-and-reports/
FPM_AMCSub.pdf

RANZCOG (The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) 2013. About the specialty. Viewed 17 July 2013, http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/the-ranzcog/about-specialty.html


This content Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Attribution provided as required under the AIHW CC-BY licence.

Related content

Relation Count
Data Elements implementing this Value Domain 2