Medicare is a federal health insurance program in the United States for people age 65 or older and younger people with disabilities, including those with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). It was begun in 1965 under the Social Security Administration and…
The Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS, often pronounced by its acronym as “hick picks”) is a set of health care procedure codes based on the American Medical Association‘s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT).[1] History The acronym HCPCS originally stood for HCFA Common Procedure Coding System, a medical billing process used by…
The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set is a procedural code set developed by the American Medical Association (AMA). It is maintained by the CPT Editorial Panel.[1] The CPT code set describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services and is designed to communicate uniform information about medical services…
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases.[1] Work on ICD-10 began in 1983,[2] became…
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Kennedy–Kassebaum Act[1][2]) is a United States Act of Congress enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21, 1996.[3] It aimed to alter the transfer of healthcare information, stipulated the guidelines…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and health insurance portability standards. In addition…
An electronic health record (EHR) also known as an electronic medical record (EMR) or personal health record (PHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format.[1] These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared through network-connected,…
A personal health record (PHR) is a health record where health data and other information related to the care of a patient is maintained by the patient.[1] This stands in contrast to the more widely used electronic medical record, which is operated by institutions (such as hospitals) and contains data…
A National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to health care providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The NPI has replaced the Unique Physician Identification Number (UPIN) as the required identifier for Medicare services, and is used by…
Medical billing, a payment process in the United States healthcare system, is the process of reviewing a patient’s medical records and using information about their diagnoses and procedures to determine which services are billable and to whom they are billed.[1] This bill…