What is the CPT Coding Book Used For?

Medical billers and coders assign numerical and alphanumerical codes to insurance claims, to provide precise identifications of diagnoses and treatment. Codes are industry-established and are covered in manuals used by the billers. One well-known manual is the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology Coding Book (CPT), which contains all the codes for medical services.

CPT and ICD

The CPT coding book is used in conjunction with the International Classification of Disease manual (ICD), which includes codes for disease classification.

HCPCS

In addition to the CPT and ICD, coders working with Medicare and Medicaid claims also use the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System manual (HCPCS).

Function

The CPT allows billers to locate codes by procedure, organ or other anatomic site, and condition, as well as by synonyms and abbreviations. The CPT contains thousands of codes, and one general procedure may have many different codes identifying each specific variation.

Two Editions

Updated annually by the AMA, there are two versions of the CPT: standard and professional. The professional edition has extra features designed to make coding easier and more accurate, such as color-coded symbols, thumb-notch tabs, dictionary-style headers and color illustrations.

Price

In 2009, the new professional edition costs from about $90 to $100 depending where purchased, while the standard edition costs between $65 and $75.

Resources

• The CPT Professional and the CPT Standard