Healthcare Practitioners - The Role of Attending Physician

The attending physician’s role is integral to the overall management and care provision for your hospice patient(s). Following is a brief summary of Medicare regulations and rules concerning the role of the attending physician:

Certification
Upon a patient’s admission to hospice, or no more than two calendar days after a patient’s admission to Compassionate Hospice, you must certify that, based upon your clinical expertise, your patient has a life expectancy prognosis of six months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. If you provide verbal certification, we require that written certification be received no later than eight calendar days after the patient’s admission.
Initial Plan of Care and Ongoing Plan of Care

As the attending physician, you will share responsibility with Compassionate Hospice's physician and team for establishing, maintaining and, if necessary, updating your patient’s plan of care. We will consult with you on a regular basis. Your patient’s plan of care needs to be agreed upon by the patient, the patient’s family, Compassionate Hospice's team and you. We will provide you with written patient summaries on a regular basis.

Diagnostic studies and invasive procedures will only be considered as they relate to your patient’s illness and when it is believed that they will improve your patient’s symptoms or quality of life.
Day-to-Day Management of Your Patients
It is critical that you are readily available to consult with members of Compassionate Hospice's team in order for us to care for your patient’s day-to-day needs and in the event that changes in your patient’s plan of care arise.

If you would like to decrease your daily involvement with a patient, please contact Compassionate Hospice to discuss making changes to your role. The medical director and team physician will make every attempt to accommodate you by taking over the primary day-to-day management of the patient. Please note that it is still your responsibility to manage your patient’s plan of care.
Payment for Physician Services
The attending physician continues to bill Medicare Part B or the patient’s insurance. You may bill Medicare Part B for care plan oversight.