Procedure codes are a sub-type of medical classification used to identify specific

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

, or diagnostic interventions. The structure of the codes will depend on the classification; for example some use a numerical system, others alphanumeric.

Examples of procedure codes

International

* International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2), as well as procedure codes; ICPC-2 also contains diagnosis codes, reasons for encounter (RFE), and process of care. *

International Classification of Procedures in Medicine The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is a system of classifying procedure codes being developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is currently available as a beta 3 release. The components for clinical documentat ...

(ICPM) and International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) *

SNOMED CT SNOMED CT or SNOMED Clinical Terms is a systematically organized computer-processable collection of medical terms providing codes, terms, synonyms and definitions used in clinical documentation and reporting. SNOMED CT is considered to be the mo ...

North American

Canadian Classification of Health Interventions The Canadian Classification of Health Interventions (CCI) is a system of procedure codes used in Canada developed and maintained by the Canadian Institute for Health Information The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is a governm ...

(CCI) (used in Canada. Replaced CCP.) * Current Dental Terminology (CDT) *

Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System 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). History The acronym '' ...

(including

Current Procedural Terminology 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. The CPT code set describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services and ...

) (for outpatient use; used in United States) *

ICD-10 Procedure Coding System The ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) is an international system of medical classification used for procedural coding. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency responsible for maintaining the inpatient procedure code se ...

(ICD-10-PCS) (for inpatient use; used in United States) *

ICD-9-CM Volume 3 ICD-9-CM Volume 3 is a system of procedural codes used by health insurance, health insurers to classify medical procedures for billing purposes. It is a subset of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ...

(subset of

ICD-9-CM The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the directing and coordinating ...

) (formerly used in United States prior to the introduction of the ICD-10-PCS) *

Nursing Interventions Classification The Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) is a care classification system which describes the activities that nurses perform as a part of the planning phase of the nursing process associated with the creation of a nursing care plan. The NIC ...

(NIC) (used in United States) * Nursing Minimum Data Set (NMDS) *

Nursing Outcomes Classification The Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) is a classification system which describes patient outcomes sensitive to nursing intervention. The NOC is a system to evaluate the effects of nursing care as a part of the nursing process. The NOC contain ...

(NOC)

European

* Classification des Actes Médicaux (CCAM) (used in France) * Classificatie van verrichtingen (Dutch) * Gebührenordnung für Ärzte (GOÄ) (Germany) * Nomenclature des prestations de santé de l' institut national d'assurance maladie invalidité (Belgium) * NOMESCO, the Nordic Medico-Statistical Committee, maintains codebooks for medical, surgical and radiological procedures termed NCMP, NCSP and NCRP respectively. They are used in member states of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

, and to some extent in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

. *

OPCS-4 OPCS-4, or more formally OPCS Classification of Interventions and Procedures version 4, is the procedural classification used by clinical coders within National Health Service (NHS) hospitals of NHS England, NHS Scotland, NHS Wales and Heal ...

(used by the NHS in England) * OPS-301 (adaptation of ICPM used in Germany) *

Read code Read codes are a clinical terminology system that was in widespread use in General Practice in the United Kingdom until around 2018, when NHS England switched to using SNOMED CT. Read codes are still in use in Scotland and in England are permit ...

s, used in United Kingdom General Practice * TARMED (Switzerland)

Other

Australian Classification of Health Interventions The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is a system of classifying procedure codes being developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is currently available as a beta 3 release. The components for clinical documenta ...

(ACHI)fhs.usyd.edu.au

References