Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question:How should I report the following case?Primary diagnosis is lung cancer, primary neoplasm in upper lobe500 NS (saline), 10:15-12:05 for the diagnosis of dehydration Avastin, 10:30-11:00Kytril, 11:00-11:25Decadron, 11:00-11:25 (mixed with Kytril)Gemzar, 11:25-12:05 Pennsylvania SubscriberAs a starting point, assuming chemotherapy is the primary reason for the encounter, you should report the administration of chemotherapy drugs Avastin and Gemzar using 96413 (Chemotherapy administration, intravenous infusion technique; up to 1 hour, single or initial substance/drug) for one and +96417 (... each additional sequential infusion [different substance/drug], up to 1 hour [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) for the other.Reason: CPT guidelines instruct that when the physician reports infusion codes, "the 'initial' code that best describes the key or primary reason for the encounter should be reported irrespective of the order in which the infusions or injections occur."You should report the drugs in addition to the administration. For Avastin, report J9035 (Injection, [...]