AHA Coding Clinic® for HCPCS - 2006 Quarter 3; FOR your INFORMATION
Appropriate reporting of drug units
A reminder to hospitals and providers was published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure accurate reporting of the units of drugs administered to a patient. It is important that hospitals and providers are aware that units should be reported in multiples of the units included in the full HCPCS code descriptor. They should not bill the units based on the way the drug is packaged, stored or stocked. Care should be taken in determining which HCPCS descriptor is referenced when reporting units for drugs administered. The HCPCS short descriptors are limited to 28 characters...
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Article Overview
This reminder from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is aimed at hospitals and providers that report administered drugs under HCPCS Level II. It focuses on general unit-reporting expectations, the importance of using the complete HCPCS descriptor, and where to find authoritative code-set references. The article is relevant to billing and coding staff who need to align drug-unit reporting with current HCPCS Level II resources.
Why This Topic Matters
Accurate unit reporting affects claim correctness and helps avoid mismatches that can occur when abbreviated descriptors or package quantities are used instead of the full HCPCS information. It also points readers to the official CMS sources used to verify current drug code details.
What You Will Learn
- Why administered drug units should be reported using HCPCS Level II references
- Why abbreviated code text may be insufficient for drug reporting review
- Where to find current HCPCS Level II descriptor information from CMS
- Why hospitals and providers should verify the full code descriptor before reporting units
Who Should Read This
- Hospital billing staff
- Medical coders
- Charge capture teams
- Revenue cycle professionals
- Providers reporting administered drugs
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