Participate in the OPS/ICD proposal process

Billing in inpatient and outpatient medical care is based on a coding system for diagnoses, operations and procedures. These are mapped using a key (code). The code is documented and transmitted by the specialist staff when treating patients. Thanks to these codes, medical diagnoses and procedures are recorded in a structured and standardized manner in the classifications. The codes are part of the ICD-10-GM and the OPS.

Codes

ICD stands for "International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems" and codes diagnoses uniformly worldwide.

OPS stands for Operation and Procedure Code. This is used to code operations and procedures that can be coded in Germany.

The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) conducts an annual standardized and transparent proposal process for the further development of ICD and OPS. Anyone (e.g. specialist societies, professional associations or private individuals) has the opportunity to participate in the BfArM's ICD-10-GM and OPS proposal process.

Proposal procedure initial phase

If you would like to submit a proposal for a change to the ICD-10-GM or OPS classification, you can do so annually during the submission phase from the beginning of December to the end of February of the following year (procedure year). The relevant proposal forms and contact information are available on the BfArM website.

If you have already submitted proposals in a previous proposal procedure but these were not implemented, you can resubmit your proposals in a revised form.

All proposals received will be made transparently available to the public on the BfArM website during the ongoing proposal procedure.

You still have the opportunity to comment on all proposals received. Please note that comments must be justified and can only be considered if they are received by the BfArM by May 10 of the year of the procedure.

Preparation phase

From March to the end of April of the procedure year, the proposals and comments received are reviewed and processed by the BfArM.

Meeting and processing phase

From the end of April to July/August of the procedure year, the proposals are reviewed by working groups and coordinated with professional associations, professional societies, professional associations and institutions. The meetings of the working groups are not open to the public.

Production and publication phase Preliminary version

In July and August of the procedure year, a non-finalized preliminary version is published, which you can already view.

Final and decision phase

At the end of the proposal process, the proposals are voted on and decided upon. An anonymized results protocol is published, which you can view on the BfArM website.

The revised, final version of the ICD-10-GM is published by the BfArM at the end of September and that of the OPS at the end of October of the procedure year. The new versions of ICD-10-GM and OPS generally come into effect at the beginning of the year.