About Medical Insurance Codes

Available Medical Coding Systems

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)

Developed by the American Medical Association in 1966, CPT codes describe the type of service you provide to a patient. With new changes in the practice of healthcare, new codes will be developed for new services, current codes will be revised, and old, unused codes discarded. CPT falls into three categories - Category I, Category II, and Category III.

Category I are five digit numeric codes. These codes represent procedures that are consistent with contemporary medical practice and are widely performed. Some examples are:

• 90791 - Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation
• 90845 - Psychoanalysis
• 00524 - Anesthesia for closed chest procedures; pneumocentesis

Category II codes describe clinical components that may be typically included in evaluation and management services or clinical services. Followed by the alpha character 'F', these codes may not be used as a substitute for Category I codes.

• 0500F- 0575F for Patient Management

Category III codes are temporary codes for emerging technology, services and procedures. The procedure or service must be involved in ongoing or planned research, to be eligible for these codes.

• 0319T - insertion or replacement of a subcutaneous implantable defibrillator system including pulse generator and lead