HiRes: Hierarchical Feature Optimization and Rescorer for Automatic ICD Coding

Abstract

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding assigns standardized codes to diseases. Automating this process enhances the efficiency and accuracy of clinical records processing. However, current methods struggle with noisy and lengthy clinical texts, making it difficult to ensure the reliability of feature extraction. Furthermore, they typically make separate binary predictions for each code, overlooking the dependencies between them. To address these issues, we propose a novel model called Hierarchical Feature Optimization and Rescorer (HiRes). We employ a cascaded convolution architecture to mitigate noise and enhance feature representation. Additionally, a masked autoencoder-based rescorer is introduced to capture ICD code interdependencies, refining initial predictions for improved accuracy. The model also considers the inconsistencies in code representations. Experiments on the MIMIC datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our model.