unused medication

If a patient comes in to receieve a drug and more than the ordered dose must be mixed, should the patient be charged for the unused portion of the medication that will be discarded?

waste

Depends on payer, they set rules for wastage and restrictions. According to Medicare rules:
•The billing of drug waste is appropriate only to a single-use vial or single-use package.
•The provider must make a good-faith effort to schedule patients so that the use of drugs is efficient and medically appropriate (unused portion of a drug package administered to another patient).
•Any waste reimbursed by Medicare must not be billed for use on any other patient.
•Coverage does not apply if the provider chooses to purchase larger packages (for a lower per-unit cost) when smaller, more appropriate packaging is available.
In terms of documentation, note the date and time, amount of product used, amount of product wasted and the reason for the waste.
Local contractors may require use of the 'JW' modifier