When all other treatments have failed, take a look at these drugs
You’ll have three new J codes for leukemia and lymphoma treatments available for use in January, 2011.
J9302 answers call for Arzerra Code
If you provide Arzerra injections, you should take note of new code J9302 (Injection, ofatumumab, 10 mg). Oncologists normally use the medication to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia in adults who haven’t responded well to fludarabine or alemtuzumab.
As the suffix -mab in ofatumumab points to, this medication is a monoclonal antibody.
Remember: Earlier, hospitals had a C code available for this agent, C9260 (Injection, ofatumumab, 10 mg). However this code makes an exit in the latest HCPCS code sets. (Note that C codes are appropriate only for Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System claims.)
Train eyes on J9307 for Folotyn
One more new J code for 2011 is J9307 (Injection, pralatrexate, 1 mg), which is just right for Folotyn.
Oncologists normally use this folate analogue metabolic inhibitor to kill cancer cells in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma that hasn’t responded to other medications or has returned.
HCPCS 2011 also axes the C code available to hospitals for this drug, C9259 (Injection, pralatrexate, 1 mg).
Flip to J9315 for Romidepsin
If your documentation shows your practice supplied Istodax, you have J9315 (Injection, romidepsin, 1 mg) at your service in the new year. The drug is a histone deacetylase inhibitor that slows the growth of cancer cells. It is intended for use in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who have been treated earlier with another drug.
In 2010, hospitals use C9265 (Injection, romidepsin, 1 mg) for this drug, however HCPCS 2011 deletes this code.
For a quick look at the HCPCS code changes, sign up for a medical coding guide like Supercoder!
