Capstone CheckPoint There are several pieces to a complicated puzzle which is called Medical Billing Process and HIPAA, ICD, CPT and HCPCS contribute their own uniqueness to the process. HIPAA is the umbrella to the process. HIPAA compliance, as far as protecting the patient’s rights and confidentiality and the physician, has to take place first in the medical billing process. HIPAA influences the medical staff in determining financial responsibility, either as private pay, insurance and personal information who is the responsible party. HIPAA statement has to be signed by the patient, giving authorization for who can obtain their personal information. Then ICD, CPT and HCPCS come under the umbrella each filling a specific area of in the process of medical billing. They are references that are used for certain areas, either by patient billing, physicians and medical facilities. ICD are codes that reference the type of service the patient receives while in staying in a hospital. CPT are numerical codes that are assigned by medical coders and dictate the type of procedures that have been completed on a patient. HCPCS codes are used for outpatient services that physicians or medical facilities use to complete the medical billing process. This is a brief overview of each area, but all of them have to fit like a tight glove to avoid errors in billing. When you look into the advanced purpose of each coding device, you see how complex the medical billing process is and if there are any errors in any of these areas mentioned, it will cause a delay in processing, billing and payment of a