History of ICHI

The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is being developed to provide a common tool for reporting and analysing health interventions for statistical purposes. A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to assess, improve, maintain, promote or modify health, functioning or health conditions. ICHI covers interventions carried out by a broad range of providers across the full scope of health systems including acute care, primary care, rehabilitation, assistance with functioning, prevention and public health.

The classification is built around three axes: Target (the entity on which the Action is carried out), Action (a deed done by an actor to a target) and Means (the processes and methods by which the Action is carried out). Extension codes are provided to allow users to describe additional detail about the intervention in addition to the relevant ICHI code. ICHI was designed with low level of complexity for countries seeking a straightforward classification for national use, while also serving as a basis for international comparisons.

The latest draft was released in 2021 with wide input from the WHO-FIC network. Active review and development of content is continuing to finalise ICHI during 2021. Once finalized, ICHI will be freely available for adoption by Member States.

Categories of health interventions covered by ICHI include

• Acute care
• Primary care
• Allied health and rehabilitation
• Assistance with functioning
• Prevention
• Public health, and
• Traditional medicine.