Medical billing codes are specific codes used in the medical profession to designate both procedures and
diagnosis. This information is necessary to file medical insurance claims.
The billing codes are found in books that are updated and
published yearly such as the CPT4 Code Book (Current Procedural
Terminology) for procedure codes and the ICD9 Code Book for diagnosis codes.
CPT codes, published by the AMA since 1963, were developed as the result
of a need for a uniform system of terminology and coding.
Medical coding
is a whole field in itself. Many courses are available to learn
coding. Insurance companies establish payment amounts dependent on
the individual codes so it is very important to understand how the medical
code system works.