AR2728
Expert
I was looking for some guidance on this issue through Medicare but couldn't find anything specific to this. A phycisian did not document the required component of end-of-life planning. The physician stated that the patient appeared very overwhelmed with all the screening components and the requested testing to be completed. The patient did not expect the visit to be so involved and the physician feared that addressing this issue would have "put her over the top". The physician did not even mention in any way the end-of-life planning to the patient.
I know this is a required component of the IPPE. I feel that had the physician attempted to speak with the patient on the issue of end-of-life planning and the patient declined-she then could bill the IPPE provided that was documented. However, due to the fact that she did not mention this at all to the patient, I do not feel that we could bill the IPPE even if the physician documents the patients overwhelmed condition.
Thoughts on this??
I know this is a required component of the IPPE. I feel that had the physician attempted to speak with the patient on the issue of end-of-life planning and the patient declined-she then could bill the IPPE provided that was documented. However, due to the fact that she did not mention this at all to the patient, I do not feel that we could bill the IPPE even if the physician documents the patients overwhelmed condition.
Thoughts on this??