Perspectives in Clinical Research (Jan 2010)
Medical coding in clinical trials
Abstract
Data generated in all clinical trial are recorded on the data collection instrument Case report Form / Electronic Case Report Form by investigators located at various sites in various countries. In multicentric clinical trials since different investigator or medically qualified experts are from different sites / centers recording the medical term(s) uniformly is a big challenge. Medical coders from clinical data management team process these terms and perform medical coding. Medical coding is performed to categorize the medical terms reported appropriately so that they can be analyzed/reviewed. This article describes process which is used for medical coding in clinical data management and two most commonly used medical dictionaries MedDRA and WHO-DDE in brief. It is expected to help medical coders to understand the process of medical coding in clinical data management. Few common issues which the medical coder faces while performing medical coding, are also highlighted.
