Question: what are ICD-9 and CPT codes?

Answer: CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes are numbers assigned to every task and service a medical practitioner may provide to a patient (although not a Medicare patient - see note below) including medical, surgical and diagnostic services. They are then used by insurers to determine the amount of reimbursement that a practitioner will receive by an insurer when he or she performs that service. Since everyone uses the same codes to mean the same thing, they ensure uniformity.

A bundle of CPT & ICD-9 & HCPCSII codes will set you back somewhere around $180 give or take. CPT by itself is about $100.

The two main organizations representing us coders are The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

ICD means International Statistical Classifications of Diseases. ICD codes are alphanumeric designations given to every diagnosis, description of symptoms and cause of death attributed to human beings.   The implementation date for ICD ICD 10 is October 2015.