HCPCS Level II — Portfolio Projects
Build coded work that shows you understand what HCPCS Level II covers that CPT doesn't — supplies, drugs, DME, and services CPT has no code for — and can justify medical necessity and modifier use for each.
Project 1: DME Order Coding Exercise
Level: Beginner | Time: 2 days
Code 10-15 durable medical equipment (DME) orders — wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen equipment, orthotics — from realistic physician orders, including the correct modifiers for rental vs. purchase and new vs. used equipment where applicable.
Steps
Skills Demonstrated
Note
DME coverage rules and required documentation change with payer policy updates — verify current Medicare/DMEPOS coverage requirements against current CMS guidance before treating a specific coverage rule as settled.
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Project 2: Drug (J-Code) Coding and Dosage Crosswalk
Level: Intermediate | Time: 3-4 days
Code a set of drug-administration scenarios to the correct J-code, calculating billable units from the documented dosage against each code's defined unit basis.
Steps
Skills Demonstrated
Note
Verify current J-code assignments against a current HCPCS Level II reference — new drugs are added and unit-basis definitions are updated on a regular cycle, and an outdated crosswalk produces a wrong unit count even with the right code.
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Project 3: ABN and Medical-Necessity Decision Portfolio
Level: Advanced | Time: 1 week
A comprehensive project combining DME, drugs, and Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) decision-making across a realistic mix of scenarios — demonstrating judgment, not just code lookup.
Steps
Skills Demonstrated
Portfolio Artifact Name
hcpcs-decision-portfolio
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Tips for Great Projects
Work from realistic orders, not code lists. Coding backward from a code you already know skips the actual skill — start from a physician order or documentation scenario and derive the code.
Justify every modifier and every ABN decision in writing. "Why" is what gets tested in interviews and audited on the job.
Track where HCPCS and CPT overlap or diverge. Knowing when a service belongs in CPT vs. HCPCS Level II — and why — is a recurring real-world coding decision worth demonstrating explicitly.
Flag genuinely unclear coverage scenarios instead of guessing. Recognizing "this needs a coverage determination check" is correct coder behavior, not a gap in your knowledge.