School’s out and summer is in full swing! Campgrounds are open, kids are swimming, and folks are road tripping all around the country. There is so much to see and do this summer. And some may be starting their summer by doing one of the most important things for their career possible – getting certified! My students just finished their medical coding course last weekend and are getting ready to take their national certification exam next Saturday.
One of my students contacted me a few days ago to let me know that she found a mistake in her CPT book, in one of the parenthetical instructions, where part of the text was completely missing. It made me smile, realizing that my students are carefully reviewing their code books in preparation for the exam, going through all of the guidelines in each section, reviewing all of the notes that we made throughout the course, looking carefully at every detail, down to the parentheticals.
Having all of the information is truly key to successful coding. So, although it is not required to take the CPC exam, I emailed the CPT errata out to my students so that they would have it as they work in the field and to satisfy that need to know, which is one of those qualities that makes the best coders. (And that missing text just happens to be the first correction listed in the CPT errata.)
If you are one of the “curious cats” as one of my colleagues describes herself, here are the links to the source sites for the code sets, including erratas (when they exist) for the current code books:
CPT: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/cpt/about-cpt/errata.page (Here you will find the CPT errata. You will have to create a free login and password, but you do not have to join the AMA to access this info.)
ICD-10-CM: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd10cm.htm (Here you will find interim advice on Excludes 1 notes in which conditions are unrelated.)
HCPCS: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coding/medhcpcsgeninfo/index.html (Here you will find quarterly updates to the code sets.)
For those of you who may be sitting for your national certification exam this summer, I wish you much success, both in the exam and in your career. The sky is truly the limit in this field.
For those of you who may be interested in this amazing field, I encourage you to consider taking my medical coding course. Feel free to peruse my website to see what others are saying about the course. There you will also find lots of information and answers to the questions you may be asking in order to decide if this field is right for you. As I tell my students, coding is not for everyone. It is for the inquisitive, the puzzle doers, the problem solvers, the tenacious, for those seeking both a challenging and a rewarding career.
Whatever you choose to do this summer, have a wonderful (and potentially career changing) one.
