FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What does CCS stand for?
CCS stands for Corporate Code Sets.
2. How do I access CCS?
From the I-Way, you would first select from the Menu, the Applications option, then select ALL
Applications, and scroll down to Corporate Code Sets or select the Alphabetical Option of “C” to
limit the search to the applications that begin with C.
3. Is a special Log-On necessary?
No, for most users with standard Corporate User Access, a log-on is not required.
4. What types of codes can be found on CCS?
The following codes are currently accessible through CCS:
Medical Codes
Procedure Codes (CPT and HCPCS (including the Dental codes)
ICD-9 Diagnosis
ICD-9 Procedures
Procedure Code Modifiers
Administrative Codes
 Place of Service
 Financial Company
 EOP Code
 Benefit Topic
NDC Codes
5. Can Local codes be found in CCS?
No, as a result of HIPAA legislation, “local” codes are no longer valid for billing and reporting use
and are not displayed in CCS.
6. How frequently are codes updated in CCS?
Medical codes are reviewed and updated on a quarterly cycle through the year. These updates could
require the addition, deletion or revision of a medical code. Administrative code set are updated on
an ad hoc basis at the request of the various data stewards. NDCs are updated weekly by a file feed
from our data source.
7. Does CCS have different User Views?
For the majority of users the basic view provided as a CCS Corporate User is all that is necessary.
Department Specific User views are assigned based on necessary departmental business needs and
functions.
ALL MEDICAL CODE SCREENS
Once it is determined which medical code type is to be viewed from the drop down box, i.e.
procedure, modifier, or ICD-9, then the second level selection criteria box must be checked prior to
submission of a medical code search. Second level selection criteria includes: Code, full
description, effective date and termination date.
The “Submit” button, found at the bottom of the screen must be clicked to begin a search. Do not use
the “enter” key. The “enter” key does not have functionality within the application.
The “Back” key, on your tool bar, is inactive in this application. To return to an Inquiry screen, any
of the following selections can be made from the Menu bar on the left hand side of the screen:
Inquiry Form, Code List, or Inquiry.
A “Comma” must be used to separate a series of codes in a search. To query against a series of
medical codes within a category
o first, select the “Code” option,
o select the “equals” option,
o type the individual codes in the open text box, separating each code with a comma, for example,
99213, 36415, S0183, or 780.0, 365.11 or 78.0, 15.01, then “submit”.
To search on a limited series of codes, use the “begins with” or “ends with feature” with a partial
code value listed. To query using this method within a category
o first, select the “Code” option,
o select the “begins with” option,
o type the partial code value in the open text box, for example, 992, then “submit”.
To inquire on a word, use the “contains” feature with a word from the code description to search for
a code(s). To query on a term or word within a category
o first, select the “Code” option,
o select the “contains” option,
o type the word or term in the open text box, for example, tonsillectomy, then “submit”
When keying information for a date query (i.e. effective or termination date fields), either utilize the
calendar feature located to the right of the date fields or manually type the date in the
MM/DD/YYYY format.
Note: The date of service and effective/termination date fields cannot be queried against
simultaneously.
MODIFIER CODES
Some modifiers have two narratives. These modifiers are often called “dual modifiers”. These
modifiers have a narrative determined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
However, they also represent an ambulance from/to destination attribute. To distinguish these in
CCS, they are assigned unique “Level‟ codes to identify these modifiers distinctly from the standard
CPT and HCPC modifiers.
o The Level value of “A” identifies the modifier to be an ambulance „from/to‟ destination
identifier.
o The Level value of “H” identifies the modifier to be a “HCPCS” modifier, created by CMS.
o The Level value of “C” identifies the modifier to be a “CPT” modifier, created by AMA.
PROCEDURE CODES
In CCS, procedure codes are assigned a “category” and a “level” code.
o Category identifies a procedure as:
S - Standard
L - Local (local codes are not displayed in this application)
o Level identifies a procedure as either:
C – CPT
H - HCPC
INQUIRY REPORT SCREEN
Once a query is ran, the data will be returned on the Inquiry – Procedure Code Status screen. The
displayed information can be sorted from ascending to descending order and vice versa.
o To resort, double-click on any of these header fields:
Code
Effective Date
Term Date
Specificity Begin Date
Specificity End Date
ICD DIAGNOSIS and PROCEDURE SCREEN
A “Decimal Point” must be used to search on an ICD-9 diagnosis or an ICD procedure code.
o For ICD Diagnoses, the decimal is required between the third and fourth characters.
o For ICD Procedures, the decimal is required between the second and third characters.
A “Validity value” is a CCS code element used to identify whether an ICD diagnosis or procedure is
listed to its highest level of specificity.
o For diagnoses, the validity values are:
1 - most specific
2 - fourth digit required
3 - fifth digit required
T - terminated diagnosis category
o For procedures, the validity values are:
1 - most specific
2 - third digit required
3 - fourth digit required
T - terminated procedure category
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE SCREENS
All simple administrative code tables can be accessed using the Data Dictionary which is a web
based application containing definitions of Meta Data and can be accessed at the following web
address http://infappd01:9090/index.aspx
Once at the home screen, you will need to click on „Code Tables‟ in the blue title bar.
On the next screen, you will need to select „CCS DB2‟ from the drop down box in the middle of the
window.
You have now accessed the listing of all of the simple administrative code set tables in CCS. This
screen shows you the code set name as well as a definition of the data housed within the table.
To access a code table, you need to click on the name of code set.
Once the table has been accessed, you can sort by any of the fields by clicking on the field name.
You can also export the data in either Excel or Word formats by clicking on the appropriate button
on the right of the screen.
NDC SCREENS
The NDC tool can be used to lookup the pricing for various drugs. In the tool, you can search for
drugs using the NDC, GCN or the drug name.