Knowledge Base Article

Question:

How do we bill for the administration of fresh frozen plasma (FFP)? 

Answer:

You would bill the appropriate HCPCS code for the FFP product (such as P9017) with units equal the number of units infused, and the blood administration CPT code 36430 with a unit of 1. If this is a Medicare claim, and if the blood product was fresh frozen plasma, you cannot charge 86927 which is the “thawing” fee.  Medicare says that if the blood product has the word “frozen” in the HCPCS code description, thawing the product before you give it is inherent and should not be billed in addition.  There is not a CCI edit for this, so if you charge FFP and thawing, the claim will not edit out, and you will get paid for both.  But, this is a Medicare rule. We suggest setting up an internal edit for Medicare outpatient claims to catch these and prevent overpayment.