Hospice

Hospice: Serving the Whole Unit—Patient, Family, Friends and Physicians

March 9th, 2007
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Hospice is a service that serves not only the patient, but also their loved ones. In hospice care, we think of the patient, the family and the caregiver as being part of a single unit. The patient’s illness has an indirect impact on every member of the family. Hospice provides support to all parts of the unit. As hospice providers, we understand that part of fulfilling a patient’s needs includes fulfilling their families’ needs as well. Hospice offers respite care to ease the burden on the caregivers, in addition to providing bereavement counseling to family members. While caregivers and family members are an essential part of the decision-making process, oftentimes there are other people involved in the patient’s care. Friends, pastors and even physicians can be considered part of the patient’s unit.

Patients often want their primary physician to be involved in their end-of-life care. This is understandable, considering the number of years patients deal with their physician—especially those who are ill. Patients who want their primary physician involved in decision-making are always accommodated. This tends to be a misconception about hospice care. Although many people think that once you are on hospice you can no longer be treated by your own doctor, it is simply not true. Although hospice agencies have medical directors who are licensed to oversee and prescribe medication, it’s not mandatory that they do so. Hospice patients are free to continue seeing their physician and the hospice agency will work in tandem with that physician to ensure the patient receives quality palliative care.

Spreading the word—

April Smith

Posted in Caregiving, Hospice, Hospice Care, Hospice: April Smith

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5 Responses to “Hospice: Serving the Whole Unit—Patient, Family, Friends and Physicians”
  1. sonali Says:

    I didn’t know that you could still see your regular physician with hospice. I have an uncle with cancer and I have been researching various options for his future care. I’m glad to know we can keep his primary physician whom he has known for decades should we need hospice care.

  2. molyn Says:

    This may sound like a really weird question, but does the primary physician still get reimbursed from insurance or does the family have to do private pay to keep them on-board? It sounds like it’s the choice of the family and the patient so it might not qualify as a cost covered by insurance.

  3. April Smith Says:

    Sonali,

    I was quite pleased to read this response and know that I am providing useful information to those who need it. It made me smile. Thanks for sharing.

  4. Lori Says:

    Molyn,

    That’s a great question. Hospice providers have their own medical directors that work with primary care physicians to perform any functions the physician cannot, i.e.: house calls, emergency visits, etc. Medicare does not reimburse physicians for phone time, but they do reimburse for care plan oversight. Medicare has a list of requirements for what qualifies as billable care plan oversight. You can read those requirements here:

    http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20050500/23howt.html

    If you deal with a private insurance company, you may need to call them directly to see what their policies are.

    I hope this information helps.

    Lori

  5. April Smith Says:

    Molyn,

    This is a complicated question to answer. A lot depends on the individual hospice and a number of other factors. Non-profit and for-profit hospices have different rules and regulations. Some hospices may not allow you to keep your primary physician so it is good to research a hospice before the admission process. In cases where the primary physician is NOT the hospice Medical Director, the primary physician continues to bill Medicare.

    April

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