Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question: One of the nonphysician practitioners on staff was treating a patient who had diarrhea and vomiting. She administered Phenergan, which the clinic provided, and a 250-cc bag of common saline solution through an IV for a 30-minute infusion. When I-m coding for this procedure, should I report the solution used to administer the Phenergan separately using hydration codes?

Connecticut Subscriber

Answer: Definitely not. You should never report fluid used to administer drugs separately. According to CPT guidelines, this use is classified as "incidental hydration," and the fluid is a supply rather than a separately charged drug.

What you should do: In your case, you should code only for the drug infusion. You-ll do this using 90765 (Intravenous infusion, for therapy, prophylaxis, or diagnosis [specify substance or drug]; initial, up to 1 hour) for the procedure.

Your facility supplied the Phenergan, so you-ll code for the medication using J2250 (Injection, midazolam HCl, per 1 mg).

Experts warn: Don't double up on your reimbursement coding for this claim -- you should not code for both the hydration and the drug infusion just because your NPP administered both.