Wiki Reclast Zometa hydration issue

[ammontagano]

I know that hydration can only be billed if no drugs were being administered during the hydration, however, I have a scenerio that needs an answer:

When we give a patient Reclast or Zometa, we automatically give them hydration due to the side effects of the drugs that may cause kidney damage. Would the hyrdation be billable in this case? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[hnroberts]

From my experience, you can only bill for the Reclast or Zometa infusion time, unless the hydration time runs longer than the drug infusion time.
Example:
Zometa/Reclast: Infuse from 10:48 - 11:21
Hydration: Hydrate frm 10:45 - 12:10

There's an additional hour 49 minutes of hydration time so you can code a 96365 for the Zometa or Reclast and a 96361 with a 59 modifier for the hydration. Hope this helps!