If you have been providing healthcare services for years, you must be well accustomed to frequent changes in coding and payer policies. Managing these changes can be tricky but not impossible. Hiring a professional infusion billing company helps your service tackle the challenges and improve reimbursement rates. Implementation of accurate codes and adherence to updated policies ensure that your services are protected from legal troubles. Improved reimbursement rates along with compliance alignment offer both financial stability and improved patient care.

Navigating the new rules of infusion billing

There have been multiple changes in regulations and guidelines for IV administration practices. The medical billers must implement these changes for high-performing reimbursement techniques.

Increased Emphasis on ASP-Adherent Practices – CMS continues to refine processes such as collecting, auditing, and adjusting ASP (Average Sales Price) data reporting. Any errors in the collection and reimbursement of injectable medications will result in claim denials or adjustments to previous payments. Thus, billing is essential to maintain accurate records of medication acquisition costs and ensure precise ASP data collection through claims.

CMS is also aiming to scrutinize biosimilars and new medications for infusion practices. This means that clinics need to validate the correct HCPCS code, dosing unit, and modifiers. This is required each time the quarterly pricing file is updated with product changes. With increasing scrutiny for waste billing and unit calculations, accuracy is now critical for reimbursement.

Refined start and stop time requirements – Intravenous practices have always relied on the start and stop times of performing the injections. In the updated policy, increased accuracy in intravenous (IV) therapy start and end times require the following:

Standardized ordering of multi-medication regimens

Exact recording of IV administration starts and stop times

Associating time documentation with each billed unit

Capturing interruptions or transitions between therapies

Thus, billers need to capture the correct start and stop times, with exact documentation of minutes and seconds. This will allow payers to reimburse successfully for the infusion therapy billing services.

Revisions in practice cost and reimbursement models – The 2026 CMS Fee Schedule impacts reimbursement for services provided in an office setting. Some of the important changes include:

Adjusted valuation of IV therapy service equipment and supplies

Modifications to align with changes in work RVUs

Updated costing assumptions using hospital outpatient data

Greater indirect costs associated with office-based services compared to facility-based services

These changes might lead to a shift in CPT reimbursement for IV treatment codes. It could also lead to marginal changes between office and facility billing, thus making it vital for the team to carefully monitor.

Changes in prior authorization process - While the 2026 rule introduces changes to telehealth and practice expense structures, prior authorization continues to be a major bottleneck for healthcare centers. Most IV medications have renewed authorizations that are linked to dosing cycles or response updates. This delay in the approval process hinders patient scheduling and revenue forecasting. A few of the important updates in prior authorization are:

Mandated biosimilar interchangeability

Reduced expiration timeframes

Increased enforcement of step therapy techniques

Strengthened peer-to-peer review processes

Enhanced medical necessity review criteria

Infusion clinics must develop proactive tracking and monitoring systems for authorization. It should also include renewal reminders, clinical checklists, and established guidelines for payer communications.

Documentation and coding requirements – Injectable medications include biologics and other complex oncology agents. Insurance companies require evidence of medical necessity before the approval or payment of the treatments. The documentation should specify diagnosis, prior treatment response, and clinical guidelines for the selected medication.

The coders must also understand medication wastage rules, time-based code selection, hierarchy of therapy, and modifiers. Implementing these changes will minimize documentation errors and reduce claim denials.

Best practices to stay on track with the regulatory updates

Ensuring proper revenue cycle management is crucial to the healthcare billing industry. With the changing CMS policies, effective reimbursement practices have become a priority for revenue generation. To stay aligned with the important policy changes and coding updates, consider following these practices:

Accurate alignment between drug inventory records and claims data

Scheduled internal reviews of ASP pricing changes

Integrated coordination between pharmacy, nursing, and billing departments

Monthly assessment of infusion coding changes

Defined workflows for new biologic and biosimilar launches

Organized analysis of recurring denial trends

Providers often struggle to achieve accuracy even after following the best practices. This might be due to an inadequate number of staff or an increased burden on medical invoicing activities. In this scenario, an outsourced infusion billing company can be of great help to physicians. Outsourcing will not only ensure compliance with industry updates but focus on streamlining your revenue cycle management as well.

Consider outsourcing for an updated billing process

Annual coding updates and frequent payer policy changes have caused frequent challenges to the healthcare industry. There are certain complexities in the process which may not be resolved even with the most effective revenue collection practices. As a result, the demand for a professional infusion billing company has increased to address the growing challenges. These companies provide a wide range of benefits, tailored to the specific requirements of the provider. To begin with, they offer services at $7 an hour, 30 days’ free trial, no binding contracts, and dedicated account managers. This assists the practitioners to receive specialized support for their requirements. Physicians also receive the benefit of an overall accuracy rate of 99.9% along with expertise of CPC-certified coders.

In the high-stakes world of specialty medicine, infusion billing stands as a unique beast. Why so? It is mostly because, unlike traditional fee-for-service models, where a procedure is simply "done and billed," infusion services are a fluid, time-dependent and not to forget complex, hierarchically governed ecosystem. For practice managers and revenue cycle specialists, mastering this niche is no longer just about getting paid; it’s about protecting the practice from the devastating financial impact of audits and "buy-and-bill" losses in infusion billing services.

Why Infusion Billing Complexity Demands Immediate Attention

While most billing discussions focus on the basics of "Start and Stop" times, a truly informative analysis must look deeper. To understand the uniqueness of this field, it is best to grasp the basic nuances of the Infusion Coding Hierarchy and the 16-Minute Rule. And also the most often misunderstood JW and JZ modifier mandates.

The Time-Based Nature of Infusion - The most fundamental difference between infusion billing and standard medical billing is the reliance on duration. In a standard office visit, the complexity of the medical decision-making (MDM) or the time spent is used to determine the code. As you know, in infusion, the stopwatch determines the revenue.

Thus, one needs to remember that the "initial" hour of a therapeutic infusion (CPT 96365) requires a minimum of 16 minutes.

Managing infusion billing is nothing but like a maze that just gets complicated if you do not know the right path. For instance, you being a clinician, administer a drug and the patient reacts poorly at the 14-minute mark, the service can no longer be billed as an infusion. It must be "downgraded" to an IV Push (CPT 96374).

Furthermore, the "additional hour" codes (CPT 96366) don't kick in until you pass the 31-minute mark of the second hour. This means an infusion lasting 90 minutes is billed exactly the same as one lasting 61 minutes. Understanding these "breakpoints" is the first step in ensuring documentation matches the reality of the clinical suite.

All about Sequential vs. Concurrent Logic - Perhaps the most unique (and searched) aspect of this field is the hierarchy of services. In infusion billing, you are generally limited to one "initial" code per encounter, regardless of how many access sites or drugs are used. Thus, here the hierarchy structure plays a vital role:

Chemotherapy and Highly Complex Biologics : These always take precedence. If a complex biologic is given. In fact, it is always the initial service.

Therapeutic, Prophylactic, and Diagnostic Infusions: These are secondary.

Hydration: This is at the bottom of the ladder.

The confusion arises when dealing with sequential infusions (CPT 96367). This occurs when one drug finishes and a new one starts. Many practices mistakenly bill multiple "initial" codes, which leads to immediate denials. The rule is simple but strict: you bill the most "complex" drug as the initial hour, and every other drug, no matter how long it takes, is billed as a sequential infusion or an additional hour.

The "Incidental" Hydration Trap - In most medical settings, providing fluids is a billable service. In infusion billing, hydration is often "bundled" and therefore non-reimbursable. For hydration (CPT 96360) to be billable, it must meet three criteria:

It must be medically necessary (not just a "flush").

It must be a standalone service (not the vehicle for another drug).

It must last more than 30 minutes.

If a nurse uses a bag of saline to flush the line between two sequential infusions, that time is considered incidental. In short, remember, billing for it is considered "unbundling" and is a major red flag for insurance payers.

JW and JZ Modifiers confusion (The "Third Pillar") - If there is one topic that defines the current state of infusion billing, it is the management of drug waste. Because infusion drugs are often "buy-and-bill," meaning the practice takes on the financial risk of purchasing the drug before reimbursement, any error in reporting waste is a direct hit to the bottom line.

The coding complexities:

While the JW Modifier is known as the discarded drugs, one needs to be careful when billing the JW Modifier. As when a single-dose vial is used and a portion is discarded, the JW modifier is mandatory. If a provider uses 80mg of a 100mg single-use vial, the 20mg of waste must be documented in the medical record and billed on a separate line item with the JW modifier. This ensures the practice is reimbursed for the entire vial they purchased. While in the case of the JZ modifier, which is for the zero-waste drug here, it is different. As of 2023, and with increased enforcement in 2025, CMS requires the JZ modifier for all single-dose vials where no waste occurred. While this was a massive shift in infusion billing, many billing platforms were not set up to handle a "zero waste" attestation. And today, failing to append the JZ modifier to a claim for a high-cost biologic can only result in a 100% denial of the drug's cost.

Industry Insight: The JZ modifier isn't just a "check-the-box" exercise; it is a legal attestation. Auditors are now comparing JZ-coded claims against the patient's weight and the standard dosage of the drug to ensure practices aren't "rounding up" to avoid documenting waste.

The Path to "Clean" Claims

Now that you know infusion billing is uniquely difficult because it leaves no room for "gray areas." You either have the start/stop times, or you don't. You either follow the hierarchy, or you get denied. You either account for waste with JW/JZ modifiers, or you lose the cost of the drug; it is best to get an experienced professional who excels in it.

Infusion billing may look like just another branch of medical billing. However, tracking the intravenous (IV) push, injection, it’s a different beast altogether. In fact, the sheer complexity of billing for infusion services, be it for a physician’s office, ambulatory infusion suite, or standalone center, can be overwhelming. It is seen in the case of even experienced billing professionals.

Infusion billing needs every detail for a seamless billing operation. Starting from how long a medication is administered to the type of drug used. All of it must be tracked and coded with perfect accuracy. Thus, a competent billing team is needed to keep up with this ever-changing field.

Above all these, we cannot forget the complexity that lies in the infusion billing code hierarchy. Each administration, whether an IV infusion, push, or injection, has to be coded properly. Even with just one initial service code selected per encounter. It is also important to know that mistakes here can cause cascading claim issues.

Infusion billing is also incredibly time-sensitive. Thus, billers must understand that the actual infusion time, not how long the patient sat in the chair, determines billing eligibility. For instance, to bill for a one-hour infusion, at least 16 minutes must be documented. If the next hour starts, at least 31 minutes into that hour must elapse before it qualifies as an additional billing hour. Failing to track this accurately means losing reimbursement or, worse, overbilling and inviting audits.

Another challenge here is the drug hierarchy. As not all medications are billed the same way. High-tier medications like chemotherapy or biologic agents use separate, often higher-paying codes than therapeutic or hydration-based infusions. Moreover, there are HCPCS codes to manage. With modifiers like “JW” to account for wastage, and per-unit calculations, it require close attention. All of this must align with documentation from the nursing or clinical team. If even one piece of the documentation puzzle is missing—say, the drug's start time or dose—a claim might be denied outright.

Common infusion billing errors to keep in mind

Despite best efforts, the most common infusion billing errors continue to involve small but costly mistakes - incorrect or missing codes, wrong date entries, or inconsistent documentation. Over-coding not only raises red flags during audits but could also damage a facility’s reputation. On the other hand, under-coding means lost revenue that adds up quickly. The key is to conduct regular team meetings and find the root-cause to prevent further issues. When billing becomes a shared responsibility across departments, rather than a single team’s burden, the entire system runs more smoothly.

In recent years, many infusion providers have turned to technology for help. Infusion specific billing platforms now offer features like real time dashboards. From track claim status, code accuracy, and aging accounts receivable, these tools flag missing data. Some advanced systems even integrate AI to detect anomalies and project reimbursement trends.

Still, technology alone isn’t enough to solve every problem. For many infusion centers and practices, the smartest step forward is outsourcing infusion billing services.

How to get infusion billing right on track?

Getting infusion billing right means a tighter billing workflow from start to finish. And this process starts even before it is administered. Verifying patient insurance eligibility, confirming prior authorizations, and capturing benefits information are critical first steps. As when the time comes to submit the claim, all elements must match. Be it the billing codes, the patient’s chart, and the drug inventory logs. Moreover, if you miss the pharmacy session or do not document, unsigned physician orders remain unaddressed, or overlapping CPT codes slip through, the claim can be flagged for rejection.

Even the best billing teams can fall behind if they don’t adapt to the realities of infusion coding. That's why there are many facilities investing in experts who are results-oriented and high performing. Having an electronic health record (EHR) system that flags missing data or duplicate entries before the claim is sent out can dramatically reduce errors. Likewise, facilities that perform regular audits and assign coders who specialize in long-term infusion care tend to see better financial outcomes. Coordination between operations and billing is also vital. As staying aligned helps claims move faster with very few denials.

In short, partnering with the right billing company means tapping into a team that you need. The one who understands the infusion billing & coding nuances. By staying updated with CMS and payer policy changes, these RCM experts bring experience across multiple therapy types and billing scenarios. These experts handle everything. Be it eligibility verification and authorization to coding, claim submission, and denial management. All while working within your systems and workflows.

Moreover, outsourcing with the right partner, like SunKnowledge can lead to significant cost savings while gaining better results. It also frees up internal staff to focus on patient care, compliance, and growth rather than chasing unpaid claims.

In the complex world of healthcare reimbursement, infusion billing stands out as one of the most intricate. Especially today, with the increasing demand for intravenous therapies across multiple treatment settings, in cases of hospitals, physician offices, and even home infusion services, the challenge of managing site-specific billing rules has grown significantly. One of the most overlooked yet critical issues in infusion billing is navigating the multiple sites of service rules. As it is one of the reasons for frequent claim denials, underpayments, and prolonged revenue cycles.

What is the Site of Service Challenge in Infusion Billing

Infusions are not confined to a single environment. Patients may receive their infusion therapies in a wide range of clinical settings. It mostly is depending on the severity of their condition, provider availability, and insurance authorization. However, the billing and documentation requirements vary widely by site of service. This variation introduces layers of complexity that many healthcare providers struggle to manage internally. For instance, hospital outpatient departments require the use of UB-04 claim forms, the right codes that indicate the department in which the service was rendered. Whereas in case of physician office infusions they are typically billed using CMS-1500 claim forms, which focus on procedural and diagnostic coding rather than departmental allocation.

Furthermore, home infusion billing therapy introduces a different level of challenge. Here, providers have to remember to bill correctly bill for not only the professional service but also the supplies, equipment, and potentially the drug as well. And all of which may either fall under the option of pharmacy or medical benefit depending on the payer.

The inconsistencies in payer expectations and the nuances that the documentation requirement aftermath of the service result in frequent errors. As it is seen that providers often submit claims using the wrong form or omit necessary revenue codes. Thus, leading to outright claim denials or incorrect reimbursement.

What is the impact of the infusion billing error in a infusion center

The implications of site-specific billing errors are not just administrative but they’re financial. Submitting a hospital outpatient infusion claim on a CMS-1500 form may lead to the payer processing the claim at a lower reimbursement rate. At time it is worse, denying it altogether due to incompatibility with their billing system. Conversely, if a physician office incorrectly uses hospital-based billing elements, the claim may trigger an audit or fail to process.

What makes infusion billing especially vulnerable is the interplay of drug codes (HCPCS), service codes (CPT), and time-based billing, which must all be correctly aligned with the designated site of service. As in case of a single mismatch in any of these components increases the likelihood of compliance issues and revenue loss.

In addition, documentation protocols differ based on the treatment environment. Any gap in documentation could only result in clawbacks during post-payment audits.

How Outsourcing Infusion Billing Solves the Problem?

Given the complexities and financial stakes involved, today many healthcare Infusion Therapy Provider or IV theraphy providers are turning to experts help. There are infusion billing outsourcing companies to streamline their processes. Outsourcing support today is in fact, a strategic move that provides expertise, accuracy, and compliance assurance across all sites of service. Here’s how:

Site-Specific Billing Expertise - Outsourcing firms specialize in infusion billing come with experience and so are well equipped. With dedicated teams trained in handling hospital, physician office, and home infusion claims, these experts know exactly which forms to use. Which modifiers to apply and how to ensure the claim matches payer expectations for the designated site are their job.

Form and Code Accuracy - Whether it’s correctly generating a UB-04 when it comes to billing for outpatient hospital infusion services or using the CMS-1500 for office-based infusions- these outsourced teams know it all. Ensuring that the form is rightly filled, revenue codes, and procedural details are aligned they help in drastically reducing the claim rejection rates and accelerates practice's cash flow.

Up-to-Date Payer Knowledge - Payers frequently update their billing requirements and site-specific coverage policies. Outsourcing partners stay current with these changes. While ensuring the required adjustment to the billing practices in real time, they further ensure compliance and help in preventing delays.

Advanced Technology and Automation - Most top-tier infusion billing partners leverage billing automation platforms or EHR softwares like CPR +/CareTend, Brightree for seamless billing operation.

Improved Documentation Management - Outsourcing providers help bridge the gap between clinical and billing teams by setting clear documentation standards tailored for each site of service. This includes capturing infusion duration, drug units administered, and clinical justification—all of which are critical for clean claim submission.

Faster Denial Resolution - When a claim is denied and time is money, Specialized infusion billing teams are trained to identify denial reasons saving a lot of your time. Based on site-of-service mismatches and appeal effectively, they often preventing revenue loss that internal teams might overlook due to lack of niche experience.

The infusion therapy market keeps expanding at a rapid rate due to the management of chronic illnesses, oncology, and diabetes. The complexity regarding infusion billing also increases with this rapid expansion. Now, infusion billing companies have become an absolute necessity at the moment. The global infusion billing market has already exceeded USD 9 billion in 2023 and is predicted to reach a volume of USD 17 billion by the next 5 years (i.e., 2030) with an 8.4% CAGR. In the meantime, the global market for infusion management software should exceed USD 35 billion by 2033 because of the use of smart, connected pumps and digital tools.

The rapid and large-scale expansion represents the need for fully integrated infusion billing programs that would be capable of maintaining fine timing, code hierarchy, prior authorizations, denial management, and special payer-driven compliance.

Market momentum and innovation trends

Connected infusion pumps and IOT: EMR integration along with smart pumps with barcode scanning, IOT connectivity has reduced drug errors by up to 44% and increased coding accuracy.

Emerging tech boosting RCM accuracy: AI-based applications and live dashboards have helped cut the standard errors and denials in billing and allowed accelerating reimbursements, respectively.

The main industry trends in infusion billing

Cloud and Automation

The world is moving towards an immense shift towards cloud-based programs and automation. These systems offer security, central access to data, and real-time updates. They also provide some AI-powered functions such as coding, denial tracking, and claim follow-up- minimizing mistakes and improving efficiency.

Artificial Intelligence and analytics

Infusion billing AI-powered technology has eliminated close to 35% of denials and cut down processing time by half. Predictive analytics predetermine the actions of the payer and make it possible to correct and streamline the revenue cycle.

Regulatory and value-based models

With the ever-growing and ever-complex regulatory intricacy, healthcare is leaning more towards expert infusion billing outsourcing to ensure compliance. The shift towards value-based care also requires more nuanced and complex workflows, entailing specialized vendor expertise.

Recovery of post covid backlog

Following the backlog of claims that were caused by the pandemic, infusion billing organizations contributed so much to the aged claims. The resuming of elective procedures is one of the factors that led to the surge in demand for outsourced billing services.

Patient Engagement

Patient portals have become part of the newest infusion billing solutions for better billing visibility and payments. This helps improve accuracy and enhance patient satisfaction.

Benefits vs. Challenges

Advantages of Outsourcing

Almost 30-40% of operational expenses are being reduced with the help of outsourcing.

Most (approx. 80%) medical bills contain errors, and with the aid of outsourcing, the risk of any errors is majorly cut down, and the risk is thus minimized.

By outsourcing the infusion billing, the claims are handled in a swifter manner. Often, the claims that took months to process are completed within weeks by outsourcing.

Challenges and Restraints

One of the major concerns is data security. Statistics state that almost 80% of healthcare breaches happen by a third party.

Vendor transparency is sometimes lacking, as many providers have reported hidden errors and a lack of visibility in outsourced models.

The costs can be pretty variable, and the fees often range from 3-10% of collections for outsourced partners.

Future Forecast

The innovations in the world of infusion billing will continue through AI, cloud, and strict data governance. In the near future, integration with EHR and real-time analytics will become the basic expectations for infusion billing providers.

With auditing of outpatient infusion charges, missing documentation is one of the major causes of concern. It puts your claims submission process at a lot of risk and as such you need a genuine vendor who will be able to do justice and can change your reimbursement strategy and can make sure that everything is handled with complete propriety.

The biggest concern is to know how you will eliminate proven gaps at your front end which will be able to bring about a consolidated change and help you earn a definitive presence as a dedicated infusion service provider.

Creating a genuine roadmap and optimizing growth is all about connecting the dots and connecting the same with expertise and experience.

In fact, that is where all the difference gets made with a definitive vendor who will be able to change your financial future once and for all.

Thus, it is imperative that you opt for a vendor who has niche experience and consistency to change your complete ROI returns as a next gen dedicated healthcare services destination. But the question is how will you be detecting which are areas of flaws which are leaking your money for services rendered. Are the right procedural and diagnosis codes in use and is it making things work out for you and helping you gain competitive advantage?

Is outsourcing of infusion billing a valid idea

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find quality resources that will be able to deliver excellence and can change the way you are currently managing the details of infusion billing. It is crucial that you find a partner with intuitive knowledge of the latest practices which will be able to change your financial future once and for all.

The biggest vendors in the world of infusion are now looking for competent vendors who can make it work out for you and bring about a complete change in the manner you are working with your present day practice management requirements.

The ultimate need of the hour is to choose a disciplined partner with extensive knowledge of the claims adjudication guidelines and by which they change the way you are currently working with your reimbursement details. In fact, that can make a huge difference and make sure that all your collection strategies with infusion billing is in place and you are able to stand the test of time.

To start, it is imperative that the company shares some references and testimonials which will be able to give you the confidence that the company you are looking to work with has the knowledge and understanding of the latest infusion billing 2025 guidelines , knows how to use the right CPT codes, working out a strategy with checking of eligibilities and verification which will be enough to give you a complete picture on how the payments will be falling in place by resurrecting the front end jobs in ideal earnest.

It will be having a huge impact and as such it is needed that you find a vendor who will be able to do the same for you and make you look after your patients a lot better!

The advantage of working with SunKnowledge Inc

Before choosing an infusion billing company, let’s know what infusion is - Infusion can be termed as a field of medication where medications are infused inside the bloodstream of the patient. It happens in a chronic situation or an emergency. That’s where infusion billing comes into the picture. But these types of billing have very strict coding guidelines which can be highly complex and also time-consuming. So, in this blog, all the problems that the infusion billing company can solve will be discussed.

Documentation Errors

It has been identified that there are various reasons for which documentation error occurs, one of the main reasons is failure in maintaining proper documentation. Hence, look for medical coders who are certified in infusion services, which eventually ensures optimum reimbursements and accurate coding. Apart from that, check also if their policy includes hierarchical coding, exact time of capture and multiple infusions.

Authorization requirements

One of the major issues in infusion services is that they are regulated with various changing rules. However, as these services require prior authorization mostly, that’s why the coordination between both the providers and also the payers gets lost. Eventually, the claims made are rejected. Hence, it can be suggested to choose a medical coder who has a higher approval rate because the quicker the approval, the less time it will take for prior authorization.

Payer Variability

The reason payer variability comes into the picture as a problem is that each payer has different reimbursement rules and policies for all infusion services. Hence, check for those service providers who have a vast amount of knowledge of contract-specific guidelines. Apart from that, they also face regulatory barriers related to CMS and commercial payers, and also drug shortage and fluctuations in price. So, check for those who can solve those also.

Denial management

As there are numerous coding issues, improper reporting of time and lack of documentation, that’s one of the key reasons for denials. That is why initially the medical coders identify the denial cause and then implement all the corrective actions, which significantly improves the cash flow of the healthcare providers. So, check for those who provide the most cost-effective outsourcing service which significantly reduces overhead costs.

Audit risks

Finally, the risk of the audit comes as all the infusion services get audited for compliance. However, if they don’t meet compliance, then all the providers face very stiff penalties. That’s why choose those services that provide a very detailed analysis and reporting which helps them to understand the healthcare providers’ revenue cycle.

Infusion billing is not a piece of cake for everyone as you need to deal with various regulations associated with infusion, injection, and hydration services and procedures. You need to dot your i's and cross your t's to make sure insurance companies pay you on time.

That means checking the drug codes and billing units carefully. You also need to charge for the infusion services, pick the right CPT®/HCPCS codes, and throw in modifiers when needed. If you miss a step, it's like dropping the ball—so stay sharp and keep everything on track!

You must keep your documentation complete and super accurate if you want your infusion billing to run smoothly. It's no secret that infusion billing has a bunch of tricky spots where even the pros can mess up, especially if the administrative staff is new at it. You need to figure out where these common mistakes happen so you can avoid falling into the same trap. Stay ahead by learning from others' slip-ups, and you'll nail your infusion billing process like a champ!

Common infusion billing slip-ups that you need to avoid at any cost -

You can totally get your billing process running like a well-oiled machine by learning how an infusion billing company dodges common mistakes and makes sure you get paid on time. Starting with—

When you're billing for infusion and injection services, you should always put the infusion treatment first. This means infusion should be the main service listed. After that, if there are any injections or IV pushes, those should come next. Finally, hydration therapy should be last. This is the order a professional infusion billing partner follows to make sure everything is documented and billed correctly.

You can only use one initial code for each patient visit unless it's really necessary to treat the patient at two different IV sites. For example, if a patient gets treatment at one site and later in the day needs another treatment at a different IV site, you can use another initial code for that second visit. Make sure that you always use the correct modifier, like modifier 59 for Medicare, to show that the second treatment is separate and needed.

You give the medicine through an IV in 15 minutes or less during an IV push, and you need to stay with your patient the whole time to make sure they're okay. If the medicine takes 10 minutes or less, it's still an IV push. But if it takes more than 15 minutes, it's not a push anymore—it's an IV infusion.

Once you finish the first infusion, you can bill for sequential infusions if you're giving a different drug or service through the same IV access. But, there has to be a good medical reason to do it one after the other, not at the same time. For example, if you give one medication and then another through the same IV line, that's a sequential infusion. You can only bill for each one if you're using the same mix of medication.

Always remember one thing you cannot bill for hydration when you have given it at the same time as another infusion. You usually don't provide chemotherapy at the same time as other treatments but when you do so, you must use a special code.