leucovorin

[ptrautner]

is it true that leukovorin is an adjunct therapy and is to be coded as a non chemo? i recently saw a seminar that andrea clark gave and she said it is one of the most common errors that a lot of hospitals make in charging....and yes i have made the same mistake...

 

[mitchellde]

it is true, leukovorin it given as adjunct therapy to prevent the harmful effects of Methotrexate.

 

[LoriCox]

Leucovorin

However, the CMS guidelines do state that Medicare carriers can determine whether or not a drug is considered chemo. For instance, our JMAC is WPS, and according to this policy, it seems as though leucovorin is considered a "cancer drug" and can be billed as a chemo agent. There is a lot of confusion over this it seems.

http://www.wpsmedicare.com/j5macpartb/policy/active/local/l28576_honc010.shtml

 

[ptrautner]

i am sure that is why so many hospitals get caught in the audit. I look to see the purpose of the drug, our clinic is good at separating the chemo from the premeds. still mistakes can be made...we don't use andrea clark for our audits but she is a great tool to learn infusion coding by....thank you both for you replies...i am taking the chonc exam in two weeks, for sure i am sure it will be on it somewhere!

 

[ivorytofu@hotmail.com]

Infusion/Hydration coding

does anyone have a tool or something that would be useful for Infusion and Hydration coding. I am new at it and need some help.

My email is: ivorytofu@hotmail.com

Thanks,

 

[traci.susong@gmail.com]

We code it as an adjunct drug and often times it runs concurrently (with Oxaliplatin).

MedLearn and Coding Strategies are good oncology reference tools.