CCBMA Administrative Practice Exam

CPT codes identify the medical procedure or service performed. They are the billing codes used to describe what was done to a patient—surgeries, imaging, lab tests, anesthesia, therapy, and other procedures—so payers can reimburse and records can be standardized. They’re not used to label diagnoses or conditions. For example, an on-the-job injury or a chronic disease would be described with diagnostic codes (ICD-10-CM), not CPT codes. A deep laceration is a condition or injury, whereas the CPT code would describe the repair procedure performed for that injury. So the best match is the medical procedure.