Personal Narrative: My New Medical Terminology

When I first started to learn the world of medical terms I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of words that didn’t match anything I already knew. It was like I was learning an entire new language that was developed entirely to confuse someone like me; a person who has only spoken, read, and written in one language her entire life. To add to this confusion, I also soon discovered that many words were spelled and pronounced the same even though their definitions were entirely different. When I thought I found a way to remember a certain term and its definition, I later became more confused while gaining knowledge of additional comparable medical terms. Although medical terminology seems endless and offers no easy learning curve balls,
dedication, learning strategies, and using anagrams helped me advance and understand more within the medical billing world.

Confusion relating to medical terminology and billing can be avoided by breaking up the terms and knowing the body systems. You can break up large words by looking at the prefix, suffix, and root of the words. Each have different meanings and when combining those meanings together, you can understand the entire term more easily. Using the example in this discussion, Salpingo-oophorectomy means to surgically remove one fallopian tube and one ovary. Salpingo relates to anfallopian tube, the prefix oophor relates to ovary, and the suffix ectomy means to surgically remove. Although these terms do not read in order of definition, breaking the term down can aid in understanding what you’re reading.

Although the example provided seems confusing and long, other words relating to medical terminology/billing proficiency can be far more puzzling. For example:

Medical Terminology

My/o, Myc/o, Myel/o

My/o means Muscle

Myc/o refers to fungus

Myel/o refers to the spinal cord

Cephal/o, Cerebr/o, Cerebell/o

Cephal/o means head

Cerebr/o refers to the cerebrum (largest part of the brain)

Cerebell/o refers to the cerebellum (back part of the brain)

Medical Billing and Coding

Ureterectomy – Is billed using CPT codes 50650 & 50660 Ureterotomy- Is billed using CPT codes 50600 & 50605

While these two terms sound and look very similar, they are actually two different procedures and are billed very differently. An ureterectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of a ureter, and an ureterotomy is defined as a surgical incision into the ureter.

Myelotomy- Is billed using CPT code 63170 Myotomy- proper billing contains site involved. Hyoid myotomy- 21685, Pylorus myotomy- 43520, and Pharynx myotomy- 43030, 43130.

Again, these two terms sound and look very similar but are coded very differently. Myelotomies refer to surgical incisions to the spinal cord, and myotomy is explained as surgical procedures in which a muscle is cut out.

Misinterpretation of medical terms can have a major impact on the billing and coding processes. If a coder only glances at the terms without taking the time to reviewing what’s exactly documented, it can lead to improper documented diagnosis and procedures, rejected or false claims, and major confusion related to medical information all together. Overall, this can cause enormous billing errors.