Pilot study of the introduction of the J95 health data collection system.

J95 is a health data collection system aimed at gathering information on the weight of health problems facing the Army in order to allow rational and effective prioritization. Before implementing the system Army-wide, a pilot study has been undertaken to validate the J95 ICD 9-based classification system, to test the practical problems encountered with operating the system and its practical value to decision-makers. Both internal and external coding validity were tested in terms of agreement with a "gold standard' and in terms of repeatability and they scored highly. A number of problems were identified analysing discordances and using the comments raised by the participants. A final shortened version of the classification was developed accordingly. The report also contains a number of examples of the potential of the system which is due to be implemented by 1 January 1996.