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CPT- CATEGORY I 

Category I Codes

 

The majority of CPT codes are Category I codes. These codes have been approved by the Editorial Panel of the AMA. As with all CPT codes, they describe medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures provided by physicians and other health care professionals.  These are part of Level I HCPCS codes. 

Guidelines

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Each section has specific guidelines located at the beginning, which define items that are necessary in order to accurately interpret and report procedures and services pertaining to that section.  (Reporting instructions, parenthetic notes, and more details are also listed within for further specification.) 

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Sections 

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Category I Codes are divided into six main sections, each of which are further divided into subsections, subheadings, categories, and subcategories. Each section has its own code range. 

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SECTION              RANGE              

E/M Codes ...........999201-99499

Anestheisa ...........00100-01999,

                              99100-99140  

Surgery...................10021-69990  

Radiology...............70010-79999

Path/ Lab...............80047-89398  

Medicine.................90028-99199,                                            99500-99607

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LAYOUT

Modifiers

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Category I codes have a  set of modifiers that may be used to indicate that a service or procedure was altered or modified in some way, without changing the descriptors.  

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The Anesthesia section also has its own set of modifiers, which report on the patient's status.  

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PROCEDURAL

FORMAT

Five-Digit Codes

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SECTIONS

MODIFIERS

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  • Category I Modifiers 

    • Anesthesia Modifiers 

PUBLICATION

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  • AMA

  • Annually:

    • Late Summer or Early Fall

    • Electronic Data Files / Books

  • Effective January 1

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