Physician Reimbursement
Physician Reimbursement for Hospice Patients
As a physician, you want to provide the best care possible for your patients, especially those experiencing life-limiting illnesses or conditions. When you refer patients to LifeTouch Health, you can still maintain an active role in managing their care plan and be reimbursed by Medicare. If you’re designated as the attending physician and are not an employee of the hospice provider, you can bill Medicare for services related to your patient’s life-limiting illness. So, referring to LifeTouch Health doesn’t mean you’re giving up your patient … or giving up on them. There’s still so much we can do together as the goals of care change.
Earlier admissions into LifeTouch Health care can provide patients and their families with an additional layer of support, while the attending physician can continue with Medicare reimbursements.
Contact your LifeTouch Health representative to learn more about how these billing codes can benefit your practice.
Medicare Billing Codes for End-of-Life Care
99497: Advance care planning including the explanation and discussion of advance directives such as standard forms (with completion of such forms, when performed) by the physician or other qualified health care professional (QHP); first 30 minutes, face-to-face with the patient, family member(s) and/or surrogate. At least 16 minutes must be performed and documented.
99498: To be used when advance care planning exceeds 30 minutes.
G0182: Hospice care supervision, which covers the multidisciplinary care involved when reviewing patient status reports, labs, and other studies, necessary contact with other health care professionals involved in the patient care, and revision or continuation of the patient care plans for hospice.
LifeTouch Health now offers Telehealth support for patients and their families in nursing homes, inpatient centers, and their homes.