DecisionHealth, DecisionHealth - 2011 Issue 8 (August)

Ask a Part B News Expert: Face-to-face rule explained

I would like clarification on certification rules for Medicare coverage clarified by CMS. For the third hospice benefit period, a face-to-face visit must be documented in the certification form. It states that a hospice physician or nurse must do the certification. At the end of the article you then state “remember, the certification may also be done by the hospice medical director when the patient does not have an attending physician.” Does that mean the attending physician may do the initial, subsequent and third certification for hospice benefit? I was under the impression that the attending could do certifications. 

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