Basic Medical Billing and Coding Terminology

There are so many basic medical billing and coding terms to learn early on. Here are just a few with simple explanations.

Basic Coding Terms

Category

Subcategory

Sub Classification

Truncated Codes

Main Terms

Category: Codes 3 digits such as COPD 496. You don’t need another digit.

Subcategory: Codes with 4 digits such as HTN 401.9

Sub Classification: Codes that need all 5 digits, DM 250.00

If a code is not taken out to the highest level it id considered Truncated. You always want to code to the most specific classification. That is why you will never see an DM code with less than 5 digits. It is such a diverse disease.

Main Term: This is the term you would look up in the idex to locate diagnosis.

Senile dementia

Allergic enteritis

Renal hypertension

Chronic Bronchitis

Acquired deformity of ankle

Nasal packing due to severe epistaxis

Hepatic infarct

Raynaud’s gangrene

Acute cholecystitis with obstruction