Service Code Groups (BETOS / RBCS / Service Group)

The platform classifies every HCPCS/CPT code along three orthogonal taxonomies so you can choose the grouping that fits the analysis you need:

Taxonomy	What it is	When to use it
`service_group`	Coarse CPT-range groupings (E/M, Surgical, Radiology, …). One row per `ServiceGroup`.	Documentation rules, modifier guidance, billing-form selection. This is what the `L5 service group` knowledge layer resolves to.
`betos`	CMS BETOS-1 taxonomy (~190 leaf categories under 8 top-level groups: M / P / I / T / D / O / Y / Z).	Utilization analytics that need to match CMS published BETOS reports (pre-2021).
`rbcs`	CMS Restructured BETOS Classification System (2021+). 4-level hierarchy that supersedes BETOS-1 in newer CMS publications.	Modern utilization analytics, Medicare spending analyses, MIPS / QPP measure development.

A single CPT code carries one assignment per taxonomy at the same time — e.g. CPT 13100 is service_group=surgical, betos_code=P5A, rbcs_code=PROC.SKIN.REPAIR.

List groups in a taxonomy

# Default: legacy service_group buckets
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

# BETOS-1 leaves (those that codes are actually assigned to)
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups?taxonomy=betos&leaves_only=true" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

# Full RBCS hierarchy (parents + leaves)
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups?taxonomy=rbcs&leaves_only=false" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

Query parameters

Param	Type	Default	Meaning
`taxonomy`	`service_group` \| `betos` \| `rbcs`	`service_group`	Which taxonomy to list.
`leaves_only`	bool	`true`	For `betos`/`rbcs`: return only leaf nodes. Ignored for `service_group`.
`year`	int	latest on file	Taxonomy year. CMS revises BETOS/RBCS yearly.
`category`	string	—	Filter by taxonomy category (e.g. `imaging`). Only used for `betos`/`rbcs`.

Response (BETOS / RBCS)

[
  {
    "taxonomy": "betos",
    "code": "M1A",
    "name": "Office visits — new",
    "description": "New patient evaluation and management visits",
    "parent_code": "M",
    "level": 2,
    "category": "evaluation_and_management",
    "is_leaf": true,
    "code_count": 5
  },
  {
    "taxonomy": "betos",
    "code": "P5A",
    "name": "Skin and subcutaneous tissue",
    "description": "Repair, excision, and destruction of skin lesions",
    "parent_code": "P",
    "level": 2,
    "category": "procedures",
    "is_leaf": true,
    "code_count": 8
  }
]

code_count is the number of HCPCS/CPT codes in this platform’s catalog currently assigned to that leaf — handy for sizing the impact of a coding change before drilling in.

Response (service_group)

[
  {
    "slug": "em",
    "name": "Evaluation & Management",
    "description": "Office visits, hospital visits, consultations",
    "cpt_range": "99202-99499",
    "billing_specialty": "primary_care",
    "requires_modifier": false,
    "key_modifiers": ["25", "57"],
    "documentation_requirements": "MDM or total time"
  }
]

List codes assigned to a group

# Every code in BETOS-1 leaf "M1A"
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups/betos/M1A/codes" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

# Every code under BETOS top-level "P" (Procedures), rolled up from descendants
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups/betos/P/codes?include_descendants=true" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

# Every code in an RBCS leaf
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups/rbcs/PROC.SKIN.REPAIR/codes" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

# Every code in a service_group slug
curl "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/codes/groups/service_group/surgical/codes?limit=200" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

Query parameters

Param	Type	Default	Meaning
`offset`	int	`0`	Pagination offset.
`limit`	int	`100`	Page size (max `500`).
`include_descendants`	bool	`true`	When the group is a non-leaf category (e.g. BETOS `P`), include codes from all leaves under it. Ignored for leaf nodes and `service_group`.

Response

{
  "taxonomy": "betos",
  "group_code": "M1A",
  "group_name": "Office visits — new",
  "total": 5,
  "codes": [
    { "code": "99202", "code_type": "cpt", "short_description": "Office o/p new low 15-29 min", "category": "Evaluation and Management" },
    { "code": "99203", "code_type": "cpt", "short_description": "Office o/p new low 30-44 min", "category": "Evaluation and Management" }
  ]
}

How assignments are loaded

BETOS / RBCS taxonomy nodes and CPT-to-group assignments live in data/seed/betos_classifications.yaml and are loaded by the cms_betos_loader. A refresh updates both the betos_classifications table and the denormalised service_codes.betos_code / service_codes.rbcs_code columns:

curl -X POST "https://api-dev.rcintell.com/v1/admin/data/refresh" \
  -H "X-API-Key: kp_test_..."

The response includes betos_nodes (nodes upserted) and betos_assignments (CPT codes whose group changed).

The denormalised *_code columns make a single code → group lookup a one-column read. The hierarchy table is only consulted when you need parent/child rollup or category metadata.

Get Started

Who is RCIntel for?

Policies

Knowledge Resolution

AI Agents

MCP Server

Facilities

Integrations

Free Tools

Healthcare Essentials

Platform

Service Code Groups (BETOS / RBCS / Service Group)

List groups in a taxonomy

Query parameters

Response (BETOS / RBCS)

Response (service_group)

List codes assigned to a group

Query parameters

Response

How assignments are loaded

​List groups in a taxonomy

​Query parameters

​Response (BETOS / RBCS)

​Response (service_group)

​List codes assigned to a group

​Query parameters

​Response

​How assignments are loaded

List groups in a taxonomy

Query parameters

Response (BETOS / RBCS)

Response (service_group)

List codes assigned to a group

Query parameters

Response

How assignments are loaded