First. yes you can use V codes as primary dx when the documentation supports the code, there are some V codes that are secondary only, and there are some that are first-listed only, so you need to check the lists in the guidelines to know which. However when you are administering procrit, the physician needs to state the condition for which the procrit is necessary. Most often this is anemia and usually we used anemia unspecified. In chemo patients, the anemia is mostly due to the chemo drugs as opposed to due to the neoplasm, As of Oct 1 a new code was created for chemo related anemia. So the appropriate code to use for patients receiving procrit is the type of anemia documented by the physician. The new code is:
285.3 Antineoplastic chemotherapy induced anemia
Anemia due to antineoplastic chemotherapy
Excludes: anemia due to drug NEC – code to type of anemia
anemia in neoplastic disease (285.22)
aplastic anemia due to antineoplastic chemotherapy(284.89)
from the guidelines:
Anemia associated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy:
When the admission/encounter is for management of an anemia associated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiotherapy and the only treatment is for the anemia, the anemia is sequenced first. The appropriate neoplasm code should be assigned as an additional code.