Medical Coding, 2nd Edition

APPENDIX G

Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set

The Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set (UHDDS) originally developed and adopted in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was revised in 1984 and implemented for federal health programs on January 1, 1986. Its purpose is to standardize definitions used in abstracting hospital inpatient data.

The current UHDDS consists of:

1.	Personal Identification: The unique number assigned to each patient within a hospital that distinguishes the patient and his or her hospital record from all others in that institution.
2.	Date of Birth: Month, day, and year of birth.
3.	Sex: Male or female.
4.	a. Race: White Black Asian or Pacific Islander American Indian / Eskimo / Aleut Other ...