The NDS Categories

There are five different codes that need to be completed when registering a claim.  The code information is usually evident from the claim form, but clarification may be required from either the employee or employer where this is not the case.

The codes are:

• Nature of Injury - the most serious condition being claimed;

• Bodily Location - where, on the body, the condition occurred;

• Mechanism - identifies the action, exposure or event which was the direct cause of the most serious injury being claimed;

• Breakdown Agency - describing the object, substance or circumstances leading to the accident.  This may best be defined as the point at which things started to go wrong and which ultimately led to the most serious injury;

• Occupation - while not an NDS code (it is an 'ASCO' or Australian Standard Classification of Occupation code), it is recorded in the same way as the codes above, and describes the type of work the employee does.

There is an additional code called 'Comcare Mechanism', which is used internally to gauge what specifically caused or contributed to various stress related illnesses being claimed.

This allows clear statistics to be kept on these conditions and target with employers how best to manage such claims both now and in the future.

The 'Comcare Mechanism' code list will only work where the 'Mechanism' code indicates the condition is stress related.

It can often be difficult deciding what is the most correct selection.  Some codes are very similar, and care does need to be taken when choosing what best suits.

In the past, auditing has managed to come across some bizarre combinations like:

• 'Mental disorder in the wrist';

• 'Diseases of the brain - unspecified bodily location';

• 'Dorsopathy [disease of the spinal column and discs] of the knee'.

Fortunately, there are built in controls in PRACSYS to ensure that illogical combinations of codes are not entered.  That way, there will be no 'eye fractures' creeping in to distort the statistics.