Administrative Coding

Panelists rated administrative codes for inclusion and exclusion criteria using a 9-point Likert scale. The research team harmonized source lists into comprehensive code inventories. Administrative ED diagnosis codes can cause misclassification because they often reflect billing, documentation, or downstream impressions rather than presenting symptoms. Reliance on administrative discharge diagnosis codes may reduce reproducibility across health systems with different coding practices. Candidate episode criteria were built from public or accessible code sources and additional ICD-10-CM review.