CPT code section reference
Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes describe the medical, surgical and diagnostic
services a provider performs. They are maintained by the American Medical Association and used
across US billing. Category I codes are five digits and grouped into six sections; Category II
(suffix F) and Category III (suffix T) cover performance tracking and emerging technology.
This tool lists every section with its numeric range and resolves any code to its section.
How it works
A Category I CPT code is a five-digit number. Each section owns a contiguous numeric block — for
example Radiology is 70010-79999 and Pathology and Laboratory is 80047-89398. To classify a
code, the lookup parses the digits and finds the block they fall in. Evaluation and Management
(E&M) is a special case: its codes (99202-99499) sit inside the same 99xxx space as the
Medicine section and the Anesthesia qualifying-circumstances add-ons (99100-99140), so the
lookup reports every section a number can belong to.
Codes ending in F are Category II tracking codes; codes ending in T are Category III
temporary codes. The lookup detects those suffixes directly.
The six Category I sections
Evaluation and Management (99202–99499)
E&M codes cover patient visits and encounters — office visits, hospital admissions and discharges, consultations, and preventive medicine exams. Despite sitting at the top of the codebook, they occupy the upper end of the numeric range. E&M coding changed significantly in 2021 with the AMA’s revision of office and outpatient visit coding, removing the requirement to document history and physical exam as the basis for level selection and instead focusing on medical decision making or total time.
Anesthesia (00100–01999 and 99100–99140)
Anesthesia codes cover anaesthetic services for surgical procedures. Unlike other CPT codes, anesthesia billing typically uses base units plus time units rather than a single fee. The qualifying-circumstance codes (99100–99140) describe special conditions like extreme age or unusual risk and are add-ons to the primary anesthesia code.
Surgery (10004–69990)
Surgery is the largest CPT section by code count and covers procedures on every body system, organised anatomically. Key subsections include integumentary (skin), musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, urinary, and many others. Each surgical code typically has a global surgical package that includes pre-operative care, the procedure itself, and a post-operative period.
Radiology (70010–79999)
Radiology codes cover diagnostic imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine) and radiation oncology. Many imaging codes have two components: a professional component (the radiologist’s interpretation, modifier -26) and a technical component (the equipment and staff, modifier -TC). Some facilities bill the global code; others split the components.
Pathology and Laboratory (80047–89398)
Pathology codes cover laboratory panels, individual analyte tests, microbiology, surgical pathology, and related services. The section begins with lab panels (metabolic, lipid) and includes codes for drug testing, immunology, cytopathology, and molecular pathology. Molecular pathology codes (81200 series) were significantly expanded and restructured in 2012.
Medicine (90281–99199 and 99500–99607)
The Medicine section covers non-surgical therapeutic and diagnostic services across many specialties: vaccines and immunisations, psychiatry, ophthalmology, cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine, allergy and immunology, neurology, and home services. It wraps around the E&M block in the numbering scheme.
Category II and Category III codes
Category II codes (four digits followed by F: 0001F–9007F) are supplemental tracking codes used for performance measurement. They do not carry a fee and cannot be used instead of Category I codes. They document clinical quality measures such as blood pressure readings or preventive screenings.
Category III codes (four digits followed by T: 0001T–0999T) are temporary codes for emerging technologies, services, and procedures that do not yet have enough data or utilisation to qualify for a permanent Category I code. Category III codes carry fees in some payer contracts and are sometimes required instead of an unlisted Category I code when billing for new procedures.
Common billing considerations
Modifiers: CPT modifiers (two-digit suffixes like -25, -59, -76) are appended to the base code and affect payment, not section classification. This lookup covers the base code and its section only.
Bundling: Many CPT codes are subject to bundling rules under the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI). Two codes that describe procedures typically performed together may be bundled and the second reimbursed at a reduced rate or not at all.
Annual updates: The AMA revises CPT codes annually, adding, deleting, and revising codes effective 1 January each year. Always confirm billing decisions against the current year’s AMA CPT codebook.
Tips and notes
- The codebook conventionally prints E&M first even though Surgery (
10004–69990) is the largest section and the lowest non-anesthesia numbers. - Two-digit CPT modifiers (e.g.
-25,-59) are appended with a hyphen and are not part of the base section ranges shown here. - Category II codes are optional and never used for payment; Category III codes may later be promoted to Category I. Always confirm against the current AMA CPT manual before billing.