
Our hospice team can admit patients within 24 hours of a referral.
Contact
540.741.3580 or
hospice.intake@mwhc.com.
Hospice is a very special kind of care and support service for anyone dealing with a life-limiting illness. Mary Washington Hospice has learned that the earlier hospice care begins the more meaningful and beneficial the support is for patients, caregivers and loved ones. We help people live comfortably, with dignity and manage patients’ pain and symptoms so they can more easily make decisions. We assist families in working through end-of-life logistics while grieving the illness and loss of a loved one. Preparations for the future are made with the patient so that their final days can be spent in peace with family and loved ones.
Our hospice team can admit a patient within 24 hours of a referral.
Patients of all ages who have a prognosis of 6 months or less, if the disease follows its usual course; patients must forgo Medicare coverage for curative treatments related to terminal illness.
Improved quality of life and relief of suffering (physical, emotional and spiritual).
This team includes physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, expressive therapists and volunteers as dictated by statute.
Patients can remain with hospice for as long as they meet hospice criteria. The patient’s plan of care is reviewed regularly for appropriateness by the Hospice interdisciplinary team, including the attending physician.
Medicare hospice benefit; standard hospice benefit from commercial payers is usually modeled after Medicare; Medicaid, although coverage varies by state; medication costs for illnesses related to the terminal illness.
Places of care include home (most common), assisted living facilities, nursing homes, residential hospice facilities, inpatient hospice units, or hospice-contracted inpatient beds. The overall intent is to allow the patient to stay at his/her place of residence.
For a hospice services consultation or for more information, please call 540.741.3580 or e-mail hospice.intake@mwhc.com.
Hospice Care Consult includes:
Hospice Consult Examples:
Hospice care appropriateness is based on the patient’s symptoms and the complexity of symptom management.
Face to face service between a physician or other qualified healthcare professional (QHP) and a patient, family member or surrogate in counseling and discussing advance directives, with or without completing relevant legal forms.
Per CPT, an advance directive is defined as a document appointing an agent and/or recording the wishes of a patient pertaining to his/her medical treatment at a future time should he/she lack decisional capacity at that time.
While CMS did not identify documentation requirements, consider documenting relevant aspects listed below when applicable:
* Since January 1, 2016, Medicare has reimbursed physicians for time spent engaged in face-to-face conversations with their patients about advance care planning.
Duration of ACP Discussion and Appropriate ACP Codes:
ACP Codes cannot be billed with critical care codes.
ACP codes CAN be used with Evaluation and Management code if the services
were rendered.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-28005.pdf, p199, pp240-254