CATTSU

Our local ARC (in Tucson, AZ) told me in July that it would be 2 years before they have ISBT in place. They also added the statement that they may recieve various products from other regions that have already converted to the system, so our facility needs to be ready to accommodate these units.

I am looking for information about how other facilities who use donated blood products (such as received from ARC) handle billing and coding of irradiated platelets (P9035) in outpatient situations? Specifically: Does anyone/everyone use irradiated platelets only? How do you bill your irradiated platelets, if that is all you have/receive in your inventory, but the ordering physician did not specifically request it for that patient? (No medical necessity) Do you ever give any non-irradiated PRBCs along with irradiated platelets, in same transfusion event, and if so, how do you bill those? How do you handle the CCI edit? Thank you! I appreciate your help!