Planning a transition: phases, teams and parallel running

No standard timetable

There is no standard timetable. WHO says it is not possible to prescribe one approach for every country.

A centre and a team

WHO highly recommends a national centre of excellence, for coordination and focused leadership, and a designated project manager and core team to plan and oversee the transition.

• Centre · Of excellence · A National Centre of Excellence is highly recommended, for coordination and focused leadership.
• Team · Core team · A designated project manager and core team nominate key people and set priorities.

Before, during, after

WHO advises that the transition is managed with clearly articulated pre-transition, implementation and post-implementation phases. Before: self-assessment, engagement and planning. During: systems, training and the change itself. After: monitoring and follow-up.

• Step 1 · Pre-transition · Prepare. Self-assessment, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning.
• Step 2 · Implementation · Do. Systems, training and the change itself.
• Step 3 · Post-implementation · Review. Monitoring and follow-up.

Overlap by at least 18 months

WHO encourages maintaining the current classification, with an overlap of at least eighteen months with the new one. The benefits are stable reporting, data for transition and dual coding studies, bridge coding, early error detection, and continuity of trained coders.

• 18 months · Minimum overlap · Maintain the current classification with an overlap of at least 18 months with the new system.
• Why · Continuity · Stability of reporting, transition studies, dual coding data, bridge coding, error detection and continuity of trained coders.

Pilots and early adopters

WHO's pilot testing covered twenty-eight countries, sixty-one thousand sixty-five code assignments and six hundred participants. Early adopters have been implementing since early twenty nineteen.

• Pilot · 28 countries · Centralised pilot testing: 28 countries, 61,065 code assignments, 600 participants.
• Early adopters · Since 2019 · Early adopters began implementing in all regions from early 2019.

Check yourself

Pause and think. What does WHO highly recommend for coordination and focused leadership? The answer: A national centre of excellence. WHO highly recommends a national centre of excellence, plus a designated project manager and core team.

• A single vendor
• A hospital-level committee only
• No central body
• A national centre of excellence

Keep these in mind

There is no standard timetable, so plan locally. Use three phases: pre-transition, implementation and post-implementation. And overlap old and new by at least eighteen months.

• No standard timetable: plan locally
• Pre-transition, implementation, post-implementation
• Overlap old and new by at least 18 months