Porphyria Educational Services
Porphyria Educational
Services Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 41 October 15, 2000
FOCUS: CPT Medical Coding
CPT coding a process of coding your medical diagnosis and
procedures. The letters CPT stand for "Current Procedural
Terminology " (CPT). Many hospital and clinic billings will
have a number listed under the heading CPT. Every disease,
procedure or medical equipment is indexed by a CPT number.
The CPT is a listing of descriptive terms and identifying codes
for reporting medical services and procedures.
The purpose of CPT is to provide a uniform language that
accurately describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services,
and thereby serves as an effective means for reliable nationwide
communication among physicians, patients, and third parties.
How is CPT used? CPT descriptive terms and identifying codes
currently serve a wide variety of important functions. This work
of terminology is the most widely accepted medical nomenclature
used to report medical procedures and services under public and
private health insurance programs.
CPT is also used for administrative management purposes such as
claims processing and developing guidelines for medical care
review.
The uniform language is likewise applicable to medical education
and research by providing a useful basis for local, regional, and
national utilization comparisons.
CPT has a long and involved history. The American Medical
Association (AMA) first developed and published CPT in 1966.
The first edition helped encourage the use of standard terms and
descriptors to document procedures in the medical record; helped
communicate accurate information on procedures and services to
agencies concerned with insurance claims; provided the basis for
a computer-oriented system to evaluate operative procedures; and
contributed basic information for actuarial and statistical
purposes.
The first edition of the CPT code book contained primarily
surgical procedures, with limited sections on medicine,
radiology, and laboratory procedures.
The second edition was published in 1970, and presented an
expanded work of terms and codes to designate diagnostic and
therapeutic procedures in surgery, medicine, and the specialties.
At that time, five-digit coding was introduced, replacing the
former four-digit classification.
Another significant change was a listing of procedures relating
to internal medicine. In the mid- to late1970s, the third and
fourth editions of the CPT code were introduced.
The fourth edition, published in 1977, represented significant
updates in medical technology, and a procedure of periodic
updating was introduced to keep pace with the rapidly changing
medical environment.
In 1983, the CPT code was adopted as part of the Health Care
Financing Administration's (HCFA) Common Procedure Coding System
(HCPCS).
CPT is a registered of the American Medical Association.
Sue Littleton, Medical Coder