Lessons
What a professional coder does
Where you are Start here. You do not need to know any codes. Keep a notebook beside you. For this first lesson, draw three columns: what the record says ,...
View ProductThe CPC credential and your path
Where you are You have followed a record from documentation to a coding decision. Now separate three goals: learning the work, earning a credential, and finding a role where you...
View ProductUnderstand the 100-question exam
Where you are You understand the difference between course progress and a credential. Now learn what the CPC examination asks you to do. You do not need to be ready...
View ProductYour three core coding books
Where you are You know the exam's broad shape. Now prepare the references you will use to solve coding questions. A code book is a working tool. Its index, instructions,...
View ProductBuild your exam workstation
Where you are Your reference inventory is ready. Now arrange a study space that helps you work accurately, and distinguish it from the stricter environment of an actual examination. A...
View ProductBuild medical words from their parts
Where you are Your books and study space are ready. Begin the medical foundation with words. You are learning to read documentation accurately, not to diagnose a person from a...
View ProductRead procedure names and abbreviations
Where you are You can identify a root, prefix, suffix, and combining vowel. Now use those tools to distinguish what a procedure name says from what its full report must...
View ProductDescribe location, planes and movement
Where you are You can distinguish the anatomy named in a term from the action or condition described. Now learn where structures are in relation to one another. These words...
View ProductSkin, wounds and tissue layers
Where you are You can describe location, side, and depth. Now apply those relationships to the skin and tissues beneath it. Later, integumentary coding will ask you to distinguish the...
View ProductBones, joints and muscles
Where you are You have traced a skin finding from the surface into deeper tissues. Now identify the structures that support the body and produce movement. A musculoskeletal record may...
View ProductAirways, lungs and breathing
Where you are A respiratory record can describe an airway, lung tissue, the membrane around a lung, or a symptom of breathing difficulty. Your first job is to identify which...
View ProductThe heart, vessels, blood and lymph
Where you are You have followed air into the lungs. Now follow the blood that receives oxygen there and carries it to other tissues. The heart, blood vessels, blood and...
View ProductDigestion from mouth to intestine
Where you are A digestive-system record may describe the passage food travels through or an organ that supplies digestive secretions. The distinction matters when you read a procedure's target. An...
View ProductUrinary and reproductive systems
Where you are The urinary and reproductive organs occupy nearby regions, and some structures connect with both systems. For a coder, proximity is not enough. You need the specific organ,...
View ProductEndocrine and nervous systems
Where you are The endocrine and nervous systems regulate activities throughout the body. Their effects can appear in many organs, so a record may mention several systems during one encounter....
View ProductThe eye, ear and sensory pathways
Where you are The nervous-system lesson introduced signals moving toward the brain. Vision and hearing show how specialized organs begin that process. Your coding preparation starts with the structure named...
View ProductRead the clinical story: fundamentals checkpoint
Where you are You can now locate major organs, interpret common word parts and distinguish nearby structures. The next skill is reading those details together. A chart does not arrive...
View ProductDocumentation before code selection
Where you are Medical language helps you understand a record. Coding begins when you turn that understanding into a supported, verifiable selection. Before opening an index, identify the encounter, the...
View ProductICD-10-CM: index to tabular
Where you are You can separate the reason for care from the service provided. Now open your ICD-10-CM book. Keep the Alphabetic Index and Tabular List within reach. This lesson...
View ProductICD-10-CM conventions and instructions
Where you are You can move from the index to a full code. Keep that workflow. This lesson adds the instructions that decide whether codes belong together and how they...
View ProductOfficial guidelines and outpatient sequencing
Where you are You know the index, Tabular List, and the main conventions. Now decide which diagnosis comes first and which additional conditions belong on an outpatient encounter. Why this...
View ProductChapter guidance: infections, neoplasms and chronic disease
Where you are You can move from the Index to the Tabular List and apply the outpatient certainty rule. Now add the chapter guidance that changes how related diagnoses fit...
View ProductChapter guidance: pregnancy, injuries and other encounters
Where you are Chapter instructions can change both code choice and sequence. This lesson applies that habit to pregnancy, injuries, medication events and encounters described by Z codes. Your first...
View ProductHCPCS Level II: supplies, drugs and units
Where you are Diagnosis coding describes the condition or reason for care. HCPCS Level II helps describe products, supplies and services outside the CPT system, including many drugs, durable medical...
View ProductCPT architecture and your book workflow
Where you are You can identify the encounter, abstract documented facts and use diagnosis and supply references. Now open your authorized CPT Professional book. The goal is to turn a...
View ProductComponents, bilateral and multiple services
Where you are You can read a full procedure entry and identify its instructions. Now consider three different reasons a claim may need more information: only part of a diagnostic...
View ProductDistinct services and separate E/M
Where you are A second line on a claim needs a reason. This lesson separates two common questions: whether an E/M service is distinct from a same-day procedure, and whether...
View ProductRepeat, reduced and discontinued services
Where you are A service can differ from the usual description in several ways. It may be repeated because another result or intervention is needed. Only part of the intended...
View ProductGlobal care, assistants and postoperative services
Where you are An operation can include care before and after the procedure. The global surgical package describes that relationship for payment purposes. To code another service during the period,...
View ProductChoose the E/M family and patient status
Where you are Evaluation and Management, usually shortened to E/M, describes work such as evaluating a concern, considering information and deciding how to manage the patient. Before choosing a level,...
View ProductMDM: problems addressed
Where you are You have selected the appropriate E/M family and patient or visit status. Now begin medical decision making, or MDM. Keep its three elements separate: problems addressed, data...
View ProductMDM: data, risk and the final level
Where you are You have a supported inventory of the problems addressed. Now examine data and management risk, then determine the overall MDM level. Keep your current authorized E/M guidance...
View ProductTime and care outside the office
Where you are MDM is not the only selection method for every E/M family. When the applicable family permits time, a supported total can determine the level. Other families use...
View ProductPreventive, critical care and prolonged services
Where you are Some encounters need a more specific path than an ordinary problem-oriented office visit. Preventive services, critical care, prolonged services and care management each have their own purpose...
View ProductAnesthesia services, physical status and roles
Where you are Anesthesia coding combines the service performed, the patient's documented physical status, practitioner roles and time. These pieces answer different questions. A physical-status classification does not identify who...
View ProductAnesthesia time, obstetric and pain services
Where you are You have identified the anesthesia service and practitioner roles. Now reconcile the time and any proposed postoperative pain service. Work from the actual anesthesia record, not the...
View ProductSkin biopsy, destruction and lesion excision
Where you are Skin procedure coding begins with a precise description of what happened to each lesion. The word “removed” is not enough. You need the site, technique, purpose, measurements...
View ProductRepair, grafts, flaps, nails and breast
Where you are A skin procedure may end with a repair, a graft or movement of nearby tissue. These are different services with different measurements and included work. Begin with...
View ProductFractures, dislocations, casts and splints
Where you are Fracture coding connects two records: the diagnosis of the injury and the treatment actually performed. A fracture is a broken bone. A dislocation is displacement of a...
View ProductJoints, arthroscopy, spine and extremities
Where you are Musculoskeletal procedures often contain several steps in one joint or spinal region. A diagnostic look, cleanup, fixation and closure may belong to one comprehensive service. Your task...
View ProductAirways, lungs, mediastinum and diaphragm
Where you are A respiratory procedure can involve an airway, lung tissue, the pleural space or another structure within the chest. Start by identifying the actual target and how the...
View ProductCardiac, vascular, hemic and lymphatic procedures
Where you are Cardiovascular coding needs a map of vessels, chambers, devices and completed interventions. A catheter can be used for diagnosis, guidance, treatment or monitoring. Its presence does not...
View ProductDigestive endoscopy and scope progression
Where you are Digestive endoscopy examines or treats structures through a scope. The report must identify the route, extent reached, purpose and actual intervention. A scheduled “colonoscopy” and a completed...
View ProductAbdominal surgery, liver, biliary and pancreas
Where you are Abdominal surgery can remove tissue, repair a defect, reconnect organs or create a new route. A complete operation may include exploration, access, adhesiolysis and closure. Read the...
View ProductUrinary and male reproductive procedures
Where you are Urinary procedures depend on the structure treated, the side, the route and the completed work. A kidney, ureter, bladder and urethra are connected, but they are not...
View ProductFemale reproductive surgery and maternity care
Where you are Reproductive surgery and maternity care require different maps. For surgery, map the organs, approach and completed repair or removal. For maternity, map the care furnished by each...
View ProductEndocrine, brain, spine and peripheral nerves
Where you are This section brings together endocrine operations, cranial and spinal surgery, peripheral nerve work and implanted stimulation devices. The procedures differ, but the first questions remain concrete: what...
View ProductEye, ocular adnexa and ear procedures
Where you are Eye and ear procedures require precise location. The eye, eyelid, conjunctiva, cornea, retina and lacrimal structures have different functions and procedure families. The external, middle and inner...
View ProductDiagnostic imaging, contrast and components
Where you are A radiology code describes a performed study, not merely an order or a machine. Read the reason for the examination, the body region, the modality, the views...
View ProductGuidance, interventional imaging and radiation
Where you are Imaging can guide a needle, define anatomy before treatment or deliver part of a radiation service. Begin by identifying its purpose. Then determine whether the complete procedure...
View ProductLab orders, panels and clinical testing
Where you are Laboratory coding starts with a clinical question and a performed test. An order requests work. A specimen supplies material. An instrument performs a method. A result answers...
View ProductMicrobiology, transfusion and tissue pathology
Where you are Microbiology studies organisms. Transfusion services prepare and support the use of blood products. Cytopathology examines cells, while surgical pathology examines submitted tissue. In each area, the coding...
View ProductMolecular tests, drug testing and specialty labs
Where you are Specialty laboratory reports can contain many technical terms and results. Your job is to identify the performed assay and the applicable reporting structure. A long report does...
View ProductInjections, infusions, hydration and chemotherapy
Where you are An administration code describes how a substance was given. The drug or fluid product is a separate coding question. Start with the order and medication administration record,...
View ProductVaccines, dialysis and diagnostic testing
Where you are Medicine contains services with very different units. A vaccination has a product and an administration. A dialysis entry may represent a session with one or repeated evaluations....
View ProductTherapy, behavioral care and other medicine services
Where you are The word therapy does not define one coding rule. Physical therapy, psychotherapy, nutrition therapy and sedation have different service requirements and time methods. Identify the actual work...
View ProductMedicare, medical necessity and coverage
Where you are An accurate code describes a documented condition, service or supply. Coverage asks whether a particular benefit pays for it under the applicable circumstances. These questions interact, but...
View ProductNCCI edits without shortcuts
Where you are You have already used inclusion rules to avoid reporting a surgical component twice. This lesson brings those decisions into a claim-edit workflow. An edit is a rule...
View ProductABNs, place of service and RVUs
Where you are A claim can describe a service correctly and still need additional review of patient notice, setting and payment rules. These checks have different purposes. An advance beneficiary...
View ProductHIPAA, fraud, abuse and professional judgment
Where you are Accurate coding depends on more than knowing the right entry. A coder must protect the information used to make the decision, refuse unsupported reporting and recognize concerns...
View ProductMichigan Medicaid: coding versus payer policy
Where you are The national code sets do not become different code sets when a patient lives in Michigan. State Medicaid policy adds coverage, enrollment, authorization and claims requirements. A...
View ProductRead a chart from start to finish
Where you are A complete chart does not announce which chapter of the exam it belongs to. It mixes symptoms, history, findings, diagnoses, procedures and administrative details. Your job is...
View ProductComplete Coding Day
Where you are You have practiced individual systems and worked through complete records. This capstone asks you to keep the same careful workflow while the subject changes. Your next record...
View ProductTrain for four hours and plan exam day
Where you are You have reached the final lesson, but a page number is not a readiness result. Review the evidence on Your progress : completed lessons, checkpoints, performance across...
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