ICF Coding

ICF coding is the procedure for describing a person's functioning and disability using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), published in 2001. Rather than recording a diagnosis, the coder selects categories from four components — body functions, body structures, activities and participation, and environmental factors — and appends numeric qualifiers that grade how much of a problem exists or, for environmental factors, whether something is a barrier or a facilitator. The result is a standardized functioning profile that operationalizes the biopsychosocial model of disability and makes information comparable across settings, conditions, and countries.