Kamis, 16 Oktober 2014

Cpt Codes Exist To Facilitate Medical Billing

By Patty Goff


There are so many complicated procedures in the medical field that it makes billing difficult. All the illnesses, procedures and medicines have complicated names. The individual who is qualified to work as a coder will have to be familiar with the Current Procedural Terminology or cpt codes to perform those duties.

There is a panel of experts who oversee maintenance of the medical code under the direction of the American Medical Association. It is called the CPT Editorial Panel. It is copyright protected by the AMA.

The code facilitates clarity in communication from one medical department to another. It covers descriptions of diagnostic, surgical and medical care for coders. It identifies what service a patient is being billed for.

ICD-10 coding identifies the illness or condition a patient is suffering from. Three types of CPT code exist, identified as Category I, Category II and Category III. In Category I you will find six sections. Some examples of Category I are Office or outpatient, Critical care and Home health care services.

They are item specific. One category applies to the administration of anesthesia. Each body part that is being operated on uses a separate code. Some examples include the extremities, the head and the eyes.

Individual numbers assigned to surgical services may include pelvic, reproductive system and auditory system. To make the billing very specific, a cochlear implant surgery is classified under auditory system. Billing is rendered less complicated when used in the bills sent out to the patient.

Codes for radiological procedures include radiation oncology, mammography and all diagnostic ultrasound procedures. This includes those used to examine the baby when a woman is pregnant. Sometimes the sex of the baby can be identified in this procedure.

Pathology and laboratory are another category. Included are drug tests, evocative suppression testing and the simple urinalysis administered as part of any routine exam in the physicians office. Complicated testing includes hematology and coagulation, transfusion medicine and the postmortem anatomic pathology.

Under those identifying Medicine you will find vaccines, any immunization administration and kidney dialysis. The individual with advanced kidney disease will have to undergo dialysis on a regular basis to remain alive. Many of these patients are waiting for a kidney transplant.

This same classifications for medicine include psychiatry, special otorhinolaryngologic services and noninvasive vascular diagnostic studies. The otorhinolaryngologic specialist is also known as an ear, nose and throat man or woman.

Numbers in Category II have four numbers followed by an alphabetical letter to identify them. This classification contains eleven codes. Included are routine physical exams, diagnostic screenings and taking the patients medical history.

Under Category III you will find the ones for psychotherapy and other counseling services. From time to time codes are retired. This year will not see a change in the psychological testing code. Each year they are re-evaluated.

The American Medical Association owns the registered trademark and the copyright belongs to them. They license it out to other medical organizations for their use. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, and the Federal Register make use of these codes to make their billing work function smoothly.




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