Apart from interoperability, data analysis and sharing, health surveillance, and billing that were already mentioned, without ICD (or other standardized tools), it would be difficult to develop EMR or decision-support systems. Hospitals may also struggle to adopt IT tools that are meant to reduce the workload of health professionals. This can lead to hidden costs from duplicated tasks and inefficient processes. It also could increase inequity in the health system, as hospitals that remain non-ICD–based would face challenges with traditional systems, resulting in poor data quality and affecting patient care in those regions.
