2008 ABC Coding Manual - Index of

Using ABC Codes
The Purpose of this Book
ABC codes were created to accurately and precisely document integrative healthcare practices, thus filling significant
gaps in older medical code sets. The ABC Coding Manual for Integrative Healthcare is designed to help practitioners use
these codes for managing care, filing claims, and validating outcomes.
This manual provides standardized terminology to support the financing, administration and delivery of nursing and other
integrative healthcare practices. ABC codes are a recognized code set of the American Nurses Association.
Any practitioner may use any ABC code in this manual provided that the service, remedy, and/or supply is within that
practitioner’s scope of practice—even if the practitioner’s specialty does not appear in the practitioner modifiers table on
the inside front cover. Some ABC codes require additional training and/or certification.
Although ABC codes fill gaps in other code sets, users of ABC codes should also be familiar with the other codes that
apply to services, remedies, and/or supplies not described by ABC codes (i.e., X-ray).
ABC Code Example
ABC codes consist of five-character, alphabetic strings that identify services, remedies, and/or supplies.
NAAGN Pain management and/or control initial 60 minutes
Managing and/or controlling a patient’s pain levels. For additional time,
use NAAGO. Service is billed in 60-minute increments.
Code Intervention Description Expanded Definition
N identifies the section where the code is located: Nursing
A identifies the code’s subsection: Nursing Interventions
A refers to the heading: Common nursing interventions
GN indicates the intervention: Pain management and/or control initial 60 minutes
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