If you find yourself stuck for a specific CCSD code, there is only one place to start in reality – www.ccsd.org.uk
The CLINICAL CODING & SCHEDULE DEVELOPMENT GROUP [CCSD] first appeared in 1997 following the appointment of a healthcare management consultancy group. The healthcare management group was commissioned to both streamline and improve medical codes within the private sector. Over 4 years later and following assistance from over 100 private medical consultants in almost 24 different surgical areas, CCSD codes were established.
CCSD codes are contained within 20 separate anatomical sections and comprehensively describe a typical surgical procedure as well as allocating a specific code against it. At this point, there are in excess of 2,000 different codes.
It is important to remember however that the fee for a specific code is not set by CCSD; the individual insurance company sets it. The CCSD website will enable you to locate a specific code but it won’t tell you the fee for it. For that, you need to contact the specific insurance company with whom your patient holds a policy.
So, how precisely do you find a code?
Go to: www.ccsd.org.uk and then click “CCSD schedules” Navigation is very simple. Enter the treatment description and up will come the code (s). For example:
Enter the word CONSULTATION in the CCSD schedules and you’ll be offered three.
20300 initial consultation
20310 follow up consultation
20330-inpatient consultation
Enter the word FRACTURE and you’ll be offered around 30 different codes each relating to a specific anatomical section. Simply locate the section you practice within and the codes will be illustrated. The complicated part though is knowing the fee for each code from the individual insurance companies.
But be honest, how many of you knew what the initials CCSD stood for before reading this article??