N. C. Little Hospice - For Physicians

N. C. Little Memorial Hospice, Inc. is a non-profit organization and is not Medicare certified. Therefore, most of our patients, especially those over 65, are usually, although not required, "case managed" by one of the area hospice programs so that they can receive the Medicare hospice benefit. The patient needs to be deemed "hospice appropriate", that is, six months or less to live, by the physician who would then make the referral to a local hospice program.

The hospice team or hospital team will help place the patient at N. C. Little Memorial Hospice. The physician will follow the patient by phone and sign the death certificate. This "following" physician should have seen the patient within the last 180 days to meet the Medical Examiner's guideline for registration.

On site visits by the physician are not required unless the patient has not been seen in the last 180 days. Our hospice staff is very skilled in continual assessment of patient needs, changing care as needed and asking for appropriate medications to keep the patient comfortable and safe.

Hospice is a wonderful gift that you can give to your patients and their families.

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