Reader Question: Drugs and Supplies

Question: Will hospitals continue to bill for drugs and supplies in addition to the procedure code? Could this be considered double dipping?

New Jersey Subscriber

Answer: Under the APC payment method, certain drugs and supplies are bundled into the APC payment rate. Others may be billed separately under the HCPCS Level II codes.

For those drugs and supplies bundled into the procedure APCs, no additional payment will be made regardless of your charge. For those others, you will receive the assigned payment. You will need to be familiar with the Level II modifiers and codes to ensure that you receive the reimbursement you are entitled to and continue to monitor Medicare updates as additional items are listed for transitional pass-through payments.

For non-Medicare payers, you probably will want to continue your current billing system of charging for drugs and supplies.

Source for the preceding Reader Questions is Caral Edelberg, CPC, CCS-P, president of Medical Resource Management in Jacksonville, Fla.



- Published on 2000-09-01