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Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospice:

Here's How To Furnish Unrelated Services To Hospice Patients

Published on Tue Jul 28, 2009

Our experts show you how to provide your services without attracting extra scrutiny. Just because hospice patients have terminal illnesses doesn't mean they can't -- or shouldn't -- benefit from your agency's help. And there's no reason you can't offer your services. HHAs can supply hospice patients with services unrelated to patients' terminal illnesses -- "but it can be tricky," warns Washington, D.C.-based attorney Elizabeth Hogue. "The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question is, of course, when something is related or unrelated," Hogue tells Eli. Example: Hogue recalls a patient who had a long history of osteoporosis and metastatic cancer to the bone. When she broke her hip, was it due to the osteoporosis, the cancer (which was the reason for hospice), or both? The cause "was ultimately attributed to the terminal illness ... and the hospice paid for the repair," Hogue says. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services believes instances of HHAs furnishing [...]
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