Tim, Hey, I asked that same question not long ago.
I look forward to using the parser.
BTW you better patent that method for parsing RTF ICD-9 files :-D
Pat
Tim Churches wrote:
Does anyone know where a set of US ICD-9-CM codes and descriptions as plain text i.e. in a format which can be imported into databse - can be obatined at no cost? The data do not have to be re-distributable, just available on teh Internet for free. I have been able to find a free set of US ICD-9-CM files in RTF (Rich Text Format) format provided by the NCHS (National center for health Statistics), but they are laid out for printing, and would need a lot of error-prone parsing to render them as a database file. Various companies offer ASCII-format ICD-9-CM files, but only for a fee. Note that I am looking for ICD-9-CM, not ICD-9.
Sorry, forget it - I realised that it is quite easy to parse RTF files. About 100 lines of Python and I nearly have a perfect set of text from the RTF files available via anonymus FTP from NCHS. I'll include the parsing code in the packages we will be releasing by Xmas (2004).
Tim C
