International Classification of Primary Care

The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) is a classification method for primary care encounter classification. It allows for the classification of the patient’s reason for encounter (RFE), the problems/diagnosis managed, primary care interventions, and the ordering of the data of the primary care session in an episode of care structure. It is being developed by the WONCA International Classification Committee (WICC), and was first published in 1987 by Oxford University Press (OUP), and a revision and inclusion of criteria and definitions, was published in 1998.

History
The first version of ICPC, which was published in 1987 is referred to as ICPC-1. The version which was published in the 1993 publication The International Classification of Primary Care in the European Community: With a Multi-Language Layer is known as ICPC-E. The 1998 publication, of version 2, is referred to as ICPC-2. The acronym ICPC-2-E, refers to a revised electronic version, which was released in 2000. Subsequent revisions of ICPC-2 are also labelled with a release date.

Chapters
The ICPC contains 17 chapters:
 * A General and unspecified
 * B Blood, blood forming organs, lymphatics, spleen
 * D Digestive
 * F Eye
 * H Ear
 * K Circulatory
 * L Musculoskeletal
 * N Neurological
 * P Psychological
 * R Respiratory
 * S Skin
 * T Endocrine, metabolic and nutritional
 * U Urology
 * W Pregnancy, childbirth, family planing
 * X Female genital system and breast
 * Y Male genital system
 * Z Social problems

Components
The ICPC classification, within each chapter, is based on 3 components coming from 3 different classifications:
 * Reason for Encounter Classification (1981)
 * International Classification of Process in Primary Care (IC-Proces-PC) (1985)
 * International Classification of Health Problem in Primary Care (ICHPPC-2-d) (1976, 1983)