Tabular List of OPS

In addition to the hierarchically ordered list of codes, the Tabular List to OPS also includes in its preface a commentary on the respective edition and notes on the application of the index. The appendix contains instruction on the calculation of the TISS and SAPS expenditure points for complex intensive care treatment. Metadata and crosswalk tables are special formats of OPS.

Structure of Tabular List

Category and code

Supplementary information on the Tabular List

The Tabular List of OPS is supplemented with the following additional information, included in the print version either as a preface or as an appendix. In the online versions, this information is available under the tab "Zusatzinformationen" (Supplementary information). The OPS online versions are available only in German language.

OPS Online

Commentary, user information and list of abbreviations

The commentary provides an overview of the most important changes in the current versions compared to that of the previous year. The user instructions contain information on encoding with OPS. The list of abbreviations contains all abbreviations used in the Tabular List. In the print edition, commentary, user information and list of abbreviations preface the Tabular List; in the online version, they are found under "Zusatzinformationen" (Supplementary information).

SAPS and TISS expenditure points

The documents "Berechnung der Aufwandspunkte für die Intensivmedizinische Komplexbehandlung" (Expenditure points for complex intensive care treatment) contain tables required for the calculation of expenditure points for complex intensive care for adults (SAPS, TISS) (code 8-980) and children (code 8-98d). In the print edition, the tables for the calculation of expenditure points are included as an appendix; in the online versions, they are found under "Zusatzinformationen" (Supplementary information).

(The tables with the Nursing Complex Measures Scores (PKMS) needed up to version 2020 to calculate the effort points for the highly complex care of patients are no longer needed from version 2021 due to deletion of the relevant codes under 9-20.)

Information on coding psychotherapy

You will also find some lists for coding individualised vs. group therapy.

Metadata and crosswalks

The metadata are a preprocessed excerpt from the Tabular List of OPS. The data include all four-, five- and six-character codes with class titles as well as titles for three-character codes, blocks and chapters. The crosswalk table permits the transcoding of codes from the old version to the corresponding codes of the new version of OPS and vice versa.

Metadata of OPS

The metadata of OPS provide additional information for each OPS code that permit e.g., certain plausibility checks or statistical groupings. Metadata in machine-readable ASCII-form are available only in German language from Downloads classifications in the subfolder "Metadaten und Überleitung" (metadata and crosswalk) in the version for the respective year.

Scope and possible applications for the metadata

The metadata of OPS are an enhanced excerpt from the OPS Tabular List. The data include all four-, five- and six-character codes with class titles as well as titles for three-character codes, blocks and chapters. For each code, they contain information, e.g. as to whether

• or not it is terminal, i.e. encodable,
• its code is precoordinated or whether it needs to be generated with the aid of a subclassification list, i.e. postcoordinated,
• a reference as to side is required;
• it is valid in accordance with § 17 b and/or § 17 d of the Hospital Financing Act (KHG) (§ 17 b KHG provides the legal framework for the introduction of a case-based fixed sum payment system for hospitals and § 17 d KHG for the introduction of a case-based fixed sum payment system in psychiatric and psychosomatic institutions),
• its use is permitted in the G-DRG system and whether
• the code is to be used only in addition to an primary code ("Zusatzkode") or it is to be used just once per period of an hospitel stay ("Einmalkode").

The metadata allow you to

• decode codes,
• group codes in accordance with three-character categories, blocks and chapters of OPS for statistical purposes and
• check codes for formal correctness.

By themselves, these metadata are not suitable for the development of encoding software because important parts of OPS are missing. Useful work with the classification is not possible without the class attributes of inclusion notes, exclusion notes and notes on individual codes.

Crosswalks of OPS

The crosswalk tables make it possible to transcode codes from a particular version of the classification to the codes of another version. The crosswalk tables are only available in German Language from Downloads classifications in the folder for the respective version, subfolder "Metadaten und Überleitung" (Metadata and crosswalks).

Possible applications of classificatory crosswalks

Crosswalks between two classifications or two versions of one classification are always determined by their purpose. A crosswalk for epidemiological timelines looks different from a crosswalk for economic mapping for DRG systems.

The crosswalk tables are pure classificatory crosswalks; each code from one version is to be mapped to the code of another version to ensure that the contents of one code are reflected in the other. Such a classificatory crosswalk does not take into account different frequencies or different costs of the procedures subsumed under a particular code. The crosswalk tables make it possible to transcode encoded data to the codes of another version of the classification. Crosswalk tables thus support the continuation of statistical surveys across a version change (timelines).

Structure of the crosswalk tables

The crosswalk tables consist of three lists:

• list of (old) codes of the source version with associated class titles (in German language)
• list of (new) codes of the target version with associated class titles (in German language)
• list of paired source and target codes

In addition to the code pairs "old code" - "new code", there are also two further columns with information whether the crosswalk from old to new or vice versa can be done automatically or has to be performed manually. The latter is the case, for example, if code differentiation has resulted in more than one target code being available for a source code.

Crosswalks and optional OPS

For 2005 to 2008, two crosswalk tables are available for each version of OPS, one for the official OPS version and the other for the OPS version with extended catalogue (optional OPS). The extended catalogue was discontinued in 2009.

Optional OPS

"Überleitungen zwischen alten und neuen Versionen des OPS mit und ohne Erweiterungskatalog" (PDF, 35 kB) (Notes on crosswalks between old and new versions of OPS with and without extension catalogue)