Q&A: Reporting multiple infusions of the same substance

Q: When reporting multiple separate infusions of the same substance or drug provided through the same IV site during one visit, should we add up the total time and then report the appropriate codes?

A: When you have multiple separate infusions of the same substance or drug you do not add up the time. You have to look at each infusion interval on its own and you have to determine if it meets the time requirement.

For an infusion, it’s 16-90 minutes, so you have to have 16 minutes or more, because if you don’t, you have to report it as a push. As long as you have administered for 16 minutes or more and you have an order for an infusion, then you know you’re reporting an infusion. If you happen to have that same infusion with the same drug given again two hours later, you don’t add that time to the previous infusion. You look at it on its own as its own interval. You look for its own start and stop time, and then you report.

There are different ways to report multiple infusions. You have the sequential code, you have the concurrent code and if you have the same substance or drug that’s being infused again, you would actually use CPT® code 96366 (IV infusion; each additional hour) to report multiple infusions of the same substance or drug for non-chemotherapy services. So you do not add up the total time.

Editor’s note: Jugna Shah, MPH, president of Nimitt Consulting, Inc., in Spicer, Minnesota, answered this question on the HCPro webinar “Improve Documentation and Coding for Injections and Infusions.” To learn more about drug administration coding, join JustCoding's Virtual Workshop: Injections and Infusions on Tuesday, June 20, with Shah.