From my previous blogs, you know that I am a huge proponent of computer-assisted coding (CAC).

If you are new to the world of healthcare terminologies, you will learn quickly that there are many of them, each with its individual terminology model (content structure and organization), area(s) of focus, release schedule and format, language, and other characteristics.

Chances are, whatever medical department you work in there are terminology standards with regularly scheduled updates.

In 1970, the (AMA) American Medical Association (AMA) implemented a five-digit code structure (00100-99607) for its Current Procedural Terminology (CPT). However, the codes are not meaningless, random numbers; each section and subsection of CPT are restricted to a subset of the codes, and “grouped” or related appropriately. The nuances of these groupings and…