One of the most comforting aspects of hospice care is that help is provided wherever the patient calls home. This may be a residence, a nursing home, a hospice care center or the hospital. Because we treat our patients like family, we recognize how important it is to receive the care they deserve in familiar or peaceful surroundings.

But can a hospice patient go to the doctor? Or does the doctor come to them? We’ll provide the answers as well as review the qualifications needed to be placed in hospice.

Can a Hospice Patient Go to the Doctor?

The short answer: Yes, as long as they are physically able to go.

But this answer needs a bit more of an explanation to discover the details of can a hospice patient go to the doctor?

One of the common hospice myths is that you can no longer see your primary care physician.

If you prefer, this doctor can remain your doctor during your duration of hospice care.

However, it’s important to realize hospice care begins when curative treatments have stopped. This means that you are no longer seeking to cure your illness, but rather letting it take its natural course.

Therefore, your primary care doctor can’t make an effort to cure you.

Medicare Considerations for Can a Hospice Patient Go to the Doctor?

Depending upon the details of your Medicare plan, only one doctor not employed by hospice can be paid for medical care that is a part of the hospice diagnosis. Therefore, you can choose if you prefer your care to be provided by the doctor who provides services to 3HC hospice or your personal doctor.

However, all doctors can be paid for services that are not a part of the hospice diagnosis. In other words, if you are receiving hospice care for kidney failure, and you fall and break your leg, you can see a doctor or orthopedist to treat your broken leg—but they can not treat your kidney failure.

Medicare (or Medicaid) may have some other details related to your hospice care, so it’s important to speak with your Medicare plan representative to be sure you’re getting complete and up-to-date information. If you have questions, ask one of our team members who can help point you in the right direction.

Does the Doctor Come to Hospice Patients?

So, in addition to considering whether a hospice patient can go to the doctor, the question arises: does the doctor make a “house call” to visit the hospice patient?

This often depends upon whether or not you have chosen for the hospice doctor to provide the care or if you have decided to stay with your primary care physician.

Hospice physicians are able to visit patients whenever they are needed, wherever they are needed. This includes a private residence. In addition, they can also speak with and consult the patient’s “regular” primary care provider if they need additional information.

At 3HC Hospice, our members of the health care team are available to provide care 24/7. By accessing this care, patients find that they have fewer trips to the emergency room or hospitalizations.

Who Qualifies for Hospice Care?

To qualify for hospice care, patients must be considered “terminally ill.” This means that a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live. In addition, the patient must decline aggressive treatment and no longer seek to have the disease cured.

You need a referral in order to receive hospice care. The good news is that almost anyone can make a referral: doctors, family members, neighbors—and even the patient themselves!

It’s also important to realize that hospice is not a place. Instead, it is a philosophy of care that means patients can receive services almost anywhere they call home.

Why Choose 3HC Hospice? Because We Treat You Like Family

Every patient is unique, and each one has a beautiful life’s journey that makes them truly special. We embrace this individuality to recognize them as family—and treat them as such. Everything we do, from providing comfort care to spiritual support to bereavement services [link to blog on bereavement services] is designed to provide you or your loved one with the gift of spending your remaining time with friends and family, experiencing as little pain and discomfort as possible.

We have proudly served North Carolinians from the Triangle area to the coast. If you’d like more information, all you have to do is contact us through our 24-hour referral line at: 1-800-692-4442.