What Are Medical Billing Codes?

Medical billing codes are a condensed set of data that is used to represent procedures, supplies, diagnosis, Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and temporary codes. These codes are comprised of two to five digits. There are books available to decipher these codes.

Procedure Codes

• Procedure codes are a type of five-digit code that represents what type of services the patient had completed. Typical types of procedures include office visits, surgery, blood tests and X-rays.

Supply Codes

• Supply codes are also five-digit codes that represent items used on or in our body. Common supplies are intravenous solution (IV), alcohol pads, diabetic shoes, surgical support hose, medication given in an injection, a cast or a splint.

Diagnosis codes

• Diagnosis codes are five-digit codes that represent the reason for the medical visit or medical test or the final outcome from a test or surgery.

Quality Reporting

• The government is tracking physicians who treat chronic medical conditions to see if the patient's condition improves. The codes used can relate to smoking cessation, asthma or diabetes. The physician can be paid to report these codes.

Temporary Codes

• Temporary codes are codes that are released in between the last official coding update either on October 1 or January 1 every year. These codes are based on new technology, new techniques or devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration.