Union government is now working to ensure stringent adherence of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) regulations by all health management software and hospital information system (HIS) providers. The time frame for total standardization of all software developed in the country is 2020.

Software providers have started to stick to the ICD regulations for compliance and approval of their HIS products. The ICD 10 is a comprehensive nomenclature standard designed to code diseases apart from maintain a record of the medical treatment and procedures tendered to patients.

The mandatory call for ICD regulations is part of the Union government's efforts through the Department of Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to create an Information Technology Infrastructure in Health (ITIH) standardization on par with the HL-7 (Health Level Seven, Inc., which developed the standards for Hospital information Systems) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US.

The ICD is a system introduced by the World Health Organisation for global standard diagnostic classification in health management, which includes study of the general health situation in the population to monitor the incidence and prevalence of diseases. It will enable storage and retrieval of diagnostic information for clinical and epidemiological purposes in addition to maintain critical records like death certificates and hospital treatment data.

The main purpose of ICD compliance is to allow the WHO member countries to compile national mortality and morbidity statistics. The WHO mandates the hospital management software and HIS to be developed according to the ICD guidelines.

The ITIH will make healthcare system more affordable and improve efficiency in clinical management apart from standardizing health data, stated officials from the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project.

The regulation is critical for India at a time when the healthcare sector is on a growth trajectory. The increasing number of multi-specialty corporate hospitals together with the demand for medical tourism services from India have further given a fillip to the endorsement of the regulation, stated a Wipro source.

The current market size for health management software estimated to be is Rs 300 crore but with the potential to touch Rs 3,000 crore within the next five years. Right now the total Indian healthcare spend registered in 2005-06 is Rs. 1,15,000 crore out of which 30 percent is for pharmaceuticals (Rs. 33,000 crore). NASSCOM estimated that out of the Rs. 1,15,000 crore health expenditure, 5 per cent was for IT infrastructure. Out of the minuscule IT spend of five per cent (Rs. 1,550 crore) only two percent is utilized for HIS installations.

"While the country is being recognized as a healthcare hub, the HIS installations is expected to be on the upswing and the ITIH reinforce the strengths of the country's healthcare system, pointed out an IBM official.

The key advantage of ICD guidelines is that a HIS can find its installation base either at an international or Indian healthcare provider site at one go, explained GL Nagendra, CEO, CifTech Solutions Pvt. Ltd who recently introduced 'CiftHealth' which is developed according the Union government guidelines of ICD standards.