CPT® Radiology & Pathology/Lab Coding | Master CPT Guidelines with AMCI

It's week 15, coders, let's go. We have

one more week and this week we'll be

covering CPT radiology and path and lab.

And you know what? We won't have time to

get into medicine. So, we've already

uploaded it in your playlist. And

because we don't have much time, I'm not

going to do a lot of talking. I just

want to tell you, stay sharp, stay

focused, you're almost at the finish

line,

and we can't go anywhere without doing a

quick shout out to the AMCI team and our

amazing interns.

You keep the course running strong and

we appreciate every single thing you do.

Okay, coders t coders drop a thank you

in the chat to the team

and just want to quickly remind you that

we do have a disclaimer. If you are new

to coding, go ahead click on the

syllabus and locate these beginners

lectures, these CPT beginners lectures.

What's going on at AMCI? Well, we have

one more week. That's what's going on.

But we're not going to get into how to

prep for the CCS. We're going to save

that for next week. But yes, it is time

to exam prep. And don't forget AMCI

Friday Night Live. We do Jeopardy,

Hangman, and Wheel of Fortune. And

there's a new time. We begin at 700 p.m.

Eastern, 6:00 p. p.m. Central, and 4:00

pm Pacific.

And don't forget about introduction to

IMTAP also in Discord.

And it's introduction to medical

terminology and anatomy and physiology.

So check it out on Wednesdays. If you're

a member of Discord, you can come and

it's lots of fun.

And the instructions on how to join

Discord are in your what's on your

syllabus. Okay? So go to the syllabus

and follow those instructions.

Also, these are the books for weeks 19

through 16. And today, yes, we'll be

using CPT 2025. You may use your HickPix

level two um your Bucks stepbystep

manual. If you can't afford the 2025,

you can get 2023 or 4, the MCG 2025. If

you want to save a little money, go

ahead and purchase the 2024.

And yes, we are pressed for time. That's

why I'm kind of moving a little fast at

the beginning, but I don't want to

forget to say thank you. Thank you to

all of you that are sharing this course.

We see you. Copyright CPT is copyright

of 2025 AMA. All rights are reserved.

Keyword concept FTR Chun AMCI FAB 7 AMCI

ICD10 CM Phillip TAP and MCG are

registered trademarks of AMCI.

CPC, CRC, COC, CPMA, CPB, CPPM, CPCO and

more are owned by AAPC.

CCA, CCS, CCSP, RHIA, RHIT are owned by

AHEA and AMCI does not own the rights to

these credentials.

Goals of the presentation for week 15.

Number one, we're going to review CPT

radiology coding. Number two, CPT

pathology. Number three, we won't get to

medicine, but we did provide it for you

in your playlist. And we're going to

give you practice exercises to test your

knowledge and bring you one step closer

to CPT coding mastery.

If we haven't said it over and over

again, guidelines are key. It's what

distinguishes

certified coders from others from

noncertified coders. It is your

understanding and ultimately the mastery

of these guidelines. So the MCG manual

helps you learn them, helps simplify

them. In fact, we've created these FTRs,

facts to remember, and they're all

compiled in MCG manual. So, let's take a

look at radiology.

So, if you go to the radiology

from your table of context, click on

radiology FTRs, and boom, here you are.

There are only three classifications, so

there aren't a a lot of guidelines, but

let's go ahead and review. So, if you

are coding anywhere in the radiology

section, you're going to need to know

these items. They may or may not apply,

but you need to know them. Also, too, I

want to draw your attention to this

hyperlink. Don't forget this is an

instructional video. We call it a Chun

video. It's extra it. They are older,

but they're very valuable. So, if the

codes aren't in there, don't blame us.

We just gave it to you because we wanted

you to have this instruction. It is

good. It's better than this instruction

that I'm giving you. Especially if

you're new to medical coding or if you

want to study the guidelines. All right.

So, when radiology coding, here are the

facts to remember. Number one,

pay attention to technique and location.

If we're saying technique, we're talking

about the type of imaging. What type? Is

it a chest X-ray? Is it a CT scan? Is it

an MRI? Etc. Location, location on the

body of the beam, etc. Also, you'll need

to know the planes, right? So, and we're

going to discuss these planes.

You have frontal, sagittal, transverse,

superior, and inferior.

These are radiologic planes.

Well, we're going to call it radiologic

planes. Also understand radiographic

beam positions. What's a PA and lat

oblique? Also, you got to know the body

positions.

Subpine, prone, lateral. You'll need to

know the radiology.

um modifiers or those components, right?

They have two modifiers. Also,

supervision and interpretation, how to

apply it. Also,

you got to watch with and without

contrast. And remember contrast, if they

insert it orally or rectally, you do not

use the with contrast codes. Also um

there are just some reminders that CT

scan CT and CTA are different right MRI

and MRA are different also spine imaging

um they use with contrast and that does

include intratheal or intravascular

injections. So, just make sure you know

it. And you know what? I'm going to help

you because we're going to review some

of these.

So, let's go ahead and begin our

discussion of radiology.

Now, let's go ahead and talk about

anatomical positions.

In fact, I want to teach you about the

three Ps. What are the three Ps? Planes.

This is how the body is divided.

Position. How the patient is placed

right for that projection. And the

projection is the path of the X-ray

beam, the three Ps. All right. So we'll

begin with

planes, right? So this is basically how

the body is divided. In number one, this

is your transverse plane. It's a

horizontal plane that divides the body

top and half. So in half that way.

Number two, frontal plane divides the

body in half but front to back. And

number three, midsagittal plane divides

the body in half, but right and left.

Got it? Next, let's talk about

positions. You're going to need to know

these position positions, not just for

X-rays, but for procedures, surgical

procedures. The first one is prone

position. The patient is lying face down

on the front of the body. Number two,

this is supine, right? Lying down on the

back with the face up.

Number three, this is lateral. The

patient is lying on the side.

And number four, oblique position. The

patient is lying down at an angle.

Got it? I know you do. Now, projections.

The final P. The projection is how

the

ray or the beam enters the body. Right?

So this patient is lying supine the

first one and the projection goes in.

It's going from front to back. Right?

And we call this antrop

posterior. An antroposterior.

Woo a. So front to back. Now in the

second the beam is going through the

back to the front right. So if it's back

to the front it's postural anterior or

PA.

And the third one the the beam is going

on the side. This may not be a good

example but trust me this is in front of

the patient. this this bean thing is in