The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set is a medical code set maintained by the American Medical Association through the CPT Editorial Panel. The CPT code set (copyright protected by the AMA) describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services and is designed to communicate uniform information about medical services and procedures among physicians, coders, patients, accreditation organizations, and payers for administrative, financial, and analytical purposes. New editions are released each October. The current version is the CPT 2015. It is available in both a standard edition and a professional edition. CPT coding is similar to ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding, except that it identifies the services rendered rather than the diagnosis on the claim. ICD code sets also contain procedure codes but these are only used in the inpatient setting. CPT is currently identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as Level 1 of the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System.The Current Procedural Terminology.
