dm+d coding system unavailable

[venexia]

Several of us ( @venexia, @kurttaylor, @RochelleKnight ) do not have the option to create dm+d codelists on OpenCodelists. Please can you advise?

[brianmackenna]

Brief answer: It is not possible to build dm+d codelists natively on OpenCodelists - you should create a pseudoBNF codelists and then convert it to dm+d.

Long answer: The NHS dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d) is the terminology used to write prescriptions in England and must be used to query with_these_medications .dm+d does not have any human meaningful hierarchy or code structure so it is near impossible to make codelists directly from it as stands. However pseudoBNF codes has a very human and clinically meaningful structure that allows development of codelists. PseudoBNF codes are used for reimbursement of prescriptions and consequently they are already mapped to dm+d. I have been working on a blog to explain differences between medicines terminologies here - keen to have feedback on it.

In OpenSAFELY you should therefore make a pseudoBNF codelist and convert it to dm+d (see screenshot). Currently the workflow means you have to download it and reupload seperately as a dm+d list (which you'll need permissions for). We have an improvement awaiting prioritisation in this issue

[venexia]

For completeness, please can you confirm the system that should be specified for codelist_from_csv() when using the above approach?

[alexwalkerepi]

The system should be snomed. Sounds odd, but: dm+d (which is what the pseudoBNF codelist is converted to) is an extension of snomed.

[venexia]

Thank you, Alex. That is what we thought but, given the confusion above, wanted to confirm!

[rc16]

Hi, I would like to upload a dm+d codelist but don't have the option to do this, as above. Can I be given the option to upload or is there someone I need to ask to do this?

[brianmackenna]

As an approved user you can ask tech-support in the OpenSAFELY slack channels