| Specialty
Groups — Oncology
Medical Oncology Code Changes ACOA’s Coding Corner – February 2006 Code Hydration or Not? The 2006 CPT Manual includes the following instruction regarding separate charges for hydration: “The fluid used to administer the drug(s) is incidental hydration and is not separately reportable.” As a result, a “flush bag” or an IV of a substance used to flush between drug therapies or to assist in drug administration is not separately charged as “hydration.” The following codes are reported only when the patient receives hydration therapy for a diagnosis such as volume depletion (276.50), dehydration (276.51) or hypovolemia (276.52):
90760 Intravenous infusion,
hydration; initial, up to 1 90761 Each additional hour, up to 8 hours These codes report a hydration IV infusion that consists of a pre-packaged fluid and electrolytes, but are not used to report infusion of drugs or other substances. Drug administration services should instead be coded to the method of administration and type of substance (i.e., chemotherapy infusion, therapeutic push, etc.). In addition, there is no separate charge for IV, port or catheter access or for the flush at the conclusion of therapy. Last, hydration infusions require direct physician supervision (in the office suite and immediately available) in the freestanding center or office sites of service. Watch for more coding changes in the upcoming months. Review previous Coding and Reimbursement Updates. This Coding and
Reimbursement Update was prepared by:
Cindy
C. Parman, CPC, CPC-H
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