Abstract
The year 1965 was critical for US health care policy. In that year, Medicare was created as part of the Social Security Act under President Lyndon B. Johnson after several earlier attempts by Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. In 1966, the American Medical Association first published a set of standard terms and descriptors to document medical procedures, known as Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT. Fifty years later, though providers have certainly heard the term "CPT code," most would benefit from an enhanced understanding of the historical basis, current structure, and relationship to valuation of Current Procedural Terminology. This article will highlight this evolution, particularly as it relates to neuroradiology.
Highlights
The language used in these procedures can be confusing for coders (Table), and we provide in the reference list a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Assistant article with language to help clarify the differences and provide historical context.[19]
Because code development at the CPT Editorial Panel leads directly to discussions of valuation at the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), it is important that the structure of new and revised medical procedure codes appropriately captures the imaging work performed by radiologists and neuroradiologists as part of those procedures
The CPT system has grown in scope over the years and has seen variable granularity, reflecting the innovations of new procedures, changes in legacy technology, and retirement of obsolete approaches
Summary
ABBREVIATIONS: AMA ϭ American Medical Association; ASNR ϭ American Society of Neuroradiology; CMS ϭ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; CPT ϭ Current Procedural Terminology; RUC ϭ AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee; RVU ϭ relative value units In 2000, CPT became the national coding standard for reporting medical services and procedures.[5] The AMA continues to recognize the importance of maintaining an updated and relevant CPT coding system and does so through resolutions in its House of Delegates, active physician involvement in systematic review of existing codes, retirement of obsolete codes, and authorship of new codes to reflect changes and innovations in medical practice.
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