Thursday, October 30, 2014

Cpt Codes Are Used To Facilitate Medical Billing

By Patty Goff


Medical billing is a complicated position that requires training. There are a myriad of procedures, medications and illnesses with difficult to spell names. A coder must know the Current Procedural Terminology, known as the cpt codes to function in that position.

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 become very specific. One is used for any administration of anesthesia. A separate set of numbers is used to refer to each body part that is operated on. Examples include head, back, extremities, which have separate numbers.

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.

Radiology includes diagnostic ultrasound, radiation oncology and mammography. The mammogram is most often a routine check for breast cancer. It is administered by a nurse and read by a physician.

Another classification is for laboratory codes and pathology examinations, also known as autopsy examinations. These, of course, are done post-mortem. Some brain diseases can only be confirmed after the patient has died. Transfusions also fall in this category.

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.

Psychotherapy and other counseling services are in Category III. It does not include psychiatric counseling. Some of the numbers are retired when experts feel they are no longer needed. They are evaluated on a yearly basis.

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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