Medical Coding In Trivandrum

CURRENT PROCEDURE TERMINOLOGY

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) is a medical code set that is used to report medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures and services to entities such as physicians, health insurance companies and accreditation organizations. CPT codes are used in conjunction with ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM numerical diagnostic coding during the electronic medical billing process.

Current Procedural Terminology, more commonly known as CPT, refers to a set of medical codes used by physicians, allied health professionals, nonphysician practitioners, hospitals, outpatient facilities, and laboratories to describe the procedures and services they perform.

Specifically, CPT codes are used to report procedures and services to federal and private payers for reimbursement of rendered healthcare.

In 1966, the American Medical Association (AMA) created CPT codes to standardize reporting of medical, surgical, and diagnostic services and procedures performed in inpatient and outpatient settings. Each CPT code represents a written description of a procedure or service, eliminating the subjective interpretation of precisely what was provided to the patient.

To accommodate the evolving world of healthcare—including the availability of new services and the retirement of outdated procedures, among other considerations—the AMA updates the CPT code set annually, releasing new, revised, and deleted codes, as well as changes to CPT coding guidelines.

Additionally, the AMA updates CPT nomenclature, or medical language, to reflect advances in medicine. Although the AMA owns the copyright to CPT^®, it invites providers and organizations to participate in the ongoing maintenance of the code set, welcoming those who use it to suggest changes to codes and code descriptors.

CPT codes consist of 5 characters. The majority of codes are numeric, but some codes have a fifth alpha character, such as F, T, or U. Examples include

33275—Transcatheter removal of permanent lead less pacemaker, right ventricular
3006F—Chest X-ray results documented and reviewed (CAP)
0510T—Removal of sinus tarsi implant
0079U—Comparative DNA analysis using multiple selected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), urine and buccal DNA, for specimen identity verification
CPT coding is similar to ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding, except that it identifies the services rendered, rather than the diagnosis on the claim (ICD-10-CM was created for diagnostic coding- it took the place of Volume 3 of the ICD-9). The ICD code sets also contain procedure codes (ICD-10-PCS codes), but these are only used in the inpatient setting.^[5]
CPT is currently identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)^[6] as Level 1 of the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System