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Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System

HCPCS
clinical
Updated 5/15/2026

Definition

A standardized coding system used to report medical procedures, supplies, products, and services not covered by CPT codes. Includes Level I codes (CPT) and Level II codes for durable medical equipment, ambulance services, and drugs. Required on Medicare and Medicaid claims for non-physician services.

Standard Abbreviation

HCPCS

Category

clinical

Database Usage

-- Example column naming
CREATE TABLE claims (
  clm_id VARCHAR(50),
  hcpcs VARCHAR(100),  -- Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (max 100 chars)
  ...
);

-- Example in SELECT
SELECT
  clm_id,
  hcpcs as healthcare_common_procedure_coding_system
FROM claims;

Common uses in healthcare data

  • Risk stratification and population health analytics
  • CMS-HCC risk adjustment and RAF score calculation
  • Quality measure attribution and HEDIS reporting
  • Clinical data warehouse schema design
  • Value-based care contract performance tracking

Example database column name

ISO-11179 snake_case standard

-- Recommended column name
hcpcs

-- Example DDL
CREATE TABLE healthcare_data (
  record_id   VARCHAR(50)   NOT NULL,
  hcpcs        VARCHAR(100),  -- Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (max 100 chars)
  created_dt  TIMESTAMP     NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Column names follow the ISO-11179 naming convention: lowercase, underscore-separated, using the standard abbreviation as a prefix where applicable.

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