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