We require documentation of infusion therapy drug administration times

Recent audits have shown that some providers aren’t documenting the times infusion therapy drugs were administered when billing drug administration codes.

The CPT manual states: “When reporting codes for which infusion time is a factor, use the actual time over which the infusion is administered.” The start and stop time for each drug infused must be documented in the administration record.

Here is some additional direction:

• After each 60 minutes of infusion time, an additional hour shouldn’t be billed until the infusion for that drug continued for an additional 31 minutes or more.
• A minimum continuous duration time of 31 minutes for the administration code billing for hydration is required.
• Hydration may not be reported concurrently with any other service.
• Intravenous push is defined as an infusion of 15 minutes or less.

Be sure to record the administration times of infusion therapy drugs to avoid a potential recovery of payments for infusion drug therapy.

None of the information included in this article is intended to be legal advice and, as such, it remains the provider’s responsibility to ensure that all coding and documentation are done in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations.