Iris - Automated coding system for causes of death

Iris is an automatic system for coding multiple causes of death and for the selection of the underlying cause of death.

The Iris Institute emerged from an international cooperation for the deployment, maintenance and development of the Iris software, an electronic system for automated coding of causes of death.

The international interest in the Iris software has made it necessary to provide an institutional foundation to supply and support Iris software.

The process of coding cause of death consists of first converting each of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate into an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code and second, deciding which of the conditions is the underlying cause of death for statistical purposes. Rules for these decisions are provided by WHO. The rules for selection of the underlying cause of death are described in detail in the ICD-10 reference guide published by the WHO.

The cooperating partners from France, Italy, Hungary and Sweden approached the DIMDI with the request to establish the Iris Institute. DIMDI (German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information) and BfArM(Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) have been merged, the secretariat is hosted by BfArM from 26 May 2020 onwards.

BfArM is a WHO collaborating center: As a WHO collaborating center for the system of international classifications, BfArM works closely with WHO on the further development of ICD-10 and is represented in numerous WHO working groups and committees.