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Purpose:The ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) framework (used worldwide to describe ‘functioning’ and ‘disability’), including the ICF scheme (visualization of functioning as result of interaction with health condition and contextual factors), needs reconsideration. The purpose of this article is to discuss alternative ICF schemes. Method:Reconsideration of ICF via literature review and discussions with 23 Dutch ICF experts. Twenty-six experts were invited to rank the three resulting alternative schemes. Results:The literature review provided five themes: 1) societal developments; 2) health and research influences; 3) conceptualization of health; 4) models/frameworks of health and disability; and 5) ICF-criticism (e.g. position of ‘health condition’ at the top and role of ‘contextual factors’). Experts concluded that the ICF scheme gives the impression that the medical perspective is dominant instead of the biopsychosocial perspective. Three alternative ICF schemes were ranked by 16 (62%) experts, resulting in one preferred scheme. Conclusions:There is a need for a new ICF scheme, better reflecting the ICF framework, for further (inter)national consideration. These Dutch schemes should be reviewed on a global scale, to develop a scheme that is more consistent with current and foreseen developments and changing ideas on health.Implications for RehabilitationWe propose policy makers on community, regional and (inter)national level to consider the use of the alternative schemes of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health within their plans to promote functioning and health of their citizens and researchers and teachers to incorporate the alternative schemes into their research and education to emphasize the biopsychosocial paradigm.We propose to set up an international Delphi procedure involving citizens (including patients), experts in healthcare, occupational care, research, education and policy, and planning to get consensus on an alternative scheme of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.We recommend to discuss the alternatives for the present scheme of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in the present update and revision process within the World Health Organization as a part of the discussion on the future of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework (including ontology, title and relation with the International Classification of Diseases).We recommend to revise the definition of personal factors and to draft a list of personal factors that can be used in policy making, clinical practice, research, and education and to put effort in the revision of the present list of environmental factors to make it more useful in, e.g., occupational health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The description and testing of the different levels of human functioning is essential prior to beginning the treatment of patients with lymphoedema. Aims: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) offers an international framework for the classification of health and health-related domains. ICF Core Sets are lists of selected ICF categories concerning the important aspects of functioning that are most likely to be affected by a specific disease. These Core Sets make it easier and faster to describe the patient's problems and to define treatment goals. Furthermore, they are available to healthcare providers of all professions, researchers, health insurance companies and policymakers. The objective of this document is to outline the development process for ICF Core Sets for lymphoedema. Methods: The ICF Core Sets for lymphoedema will be defined at a consensus conference, on the basis of data derived from the following preparatory studies: a) a systematic review b) a qualitative study c) an expert survey and d) a cross-sectional study. Results: Not available at the time of writing. Conclusions: The ICF Core Sets for lymphoedema are being designed with the aim of providing a useful standard for both research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the 2014 article "ICF and ICF-CY lessons learned: Pandora's box of personal factors" by R. Simeonsson and colleagues.

The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) alpha2 2016 Section 1 Interventions on Body Systems and Functions is based on ISO 1828 international standard named categorial Structure (CAST). This is not sufficient to represent the meaning of ICD9-CM Volume 3 labels. We propose to modify it by using the SNOMED CT concept model.

The CCAM French coding system of clinical procedures was developed between 1994 and 2004 using, in parallel, a traditional domain expert's consensus method on one hand, and advanced methodologies of ontology driven semantic representation and multilingual generation on the other hand. These advanced methodologies were applied under the framework of an European Union collaborative research project named GALEN and produced a new generation of biomedical terminology. Following the interest in several countries and in WHO, the GALEN network has tested the application of the ontology driven tools to the existing reduced Australian ICHI coding system for interventions presently under investigation by WHO to check its ability and appropriateness to become the reference international coding system for procedures. The initial results are presented and discussed in terms of feasibility and quality assurance for sharing and maintaining consistent medical knowledge and allowing diversity in linguistic expressiveness of end users.