After this webinar attendees will be able to answer-

• Explain the foundational purpose and scope of hospice care, including how it supports patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

• Identify key hospice eligibility, certification, recertification, and election requirements that support compliant hospice services. 

• Describe the role of the interdisciplinary team and individualized plan of care in coordinating patient-centered hospice support. 

• Recognize documentation, coding, billing, and reimbursement considerations that help support compliance, accuracy, and continuity of care. 

Webinar details- 

Hospice 101: Back to the Basics & Key Concepts is a foundational session designed to help healthcare professionals understand the essential principles that guide hospice care, documentation, operations, compliance, and reimbursement. Hospice care is a comprehensive, holistic model of support for patients with terminal illness and their families. Under the Medicare hospice benefit, the focus shifts from curative treatment to comfort-focused care, including pain relief, symptom management, psychosocial support, spiritual care, caregiver education, and bereavement services. Patients generally qualify when physicians certify that the individual has a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness follows its normal course, and when the patient elects the hospice benefit through the required election process. 

This topic brings participants back to the core concepts that every hospice-related professional should understand, whether they work in coding, billing, administration, clinical documentation, compliance, or care coordination. The session explains what hospice is, how it differs from other post-acute and palliative care models, and why eligibility, certification, recertification, election statements, and benefit periods are central to compliant hospice operations. It also reviews how the interdisciplinary group develops and manages the individualized plan of care in collaboration with the patient, caregiver, attending physician, and hospice team. The plan of care should reflect the patient’s terminal illness, related conditions, goals, interventions, service frequency, medications, supplies, and other supports needed to manage comfort and quality of life. 

A key focus of this topic is the connection between clinical care and documentation. In hospice, documentation must clearly support terminal prognosis, medical necessity, services provided, changes in condition, pain and symptom management, and the ongoing need for hospice services. Accurate and timely records help support compliance with Medicare requirements, reduce audit risk, protect reimbursement integrity, and promote continuity of care across the interdisciplinary team. Participants will gain a practical understanding of why vague, incomplete, or inconsistent documentation can create compliance concerns and how well-organized documentation supports both patient-centered care and operational success. 

The session also introduces reimbursement and billing basics, including how hospice payment is structured around levels of care and how services must align with the patient’s plan of care. Participants will learn why coders, billers, CDI professionals, administrators, and clinical leaders must work together to ensure that diagnoses, documentation, claims, and care delivery accurately reflect the patient’s condition and hospice election. By reviewing common terminology, regulatory expectations, team responsibilities, and documentation touchpoints, this session helps participants build confidence in applying hospice fundamentals to everyday work. 

Overall, Hospice 101: Back to the Basics & Key Concepts is intended to provide a clear, practical, and accessible overview of the hospice framework. It reinforces the importance of compassionate care, regulatory alignment, accurate documentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Attendees will leave with a stronger understanding of the basic concepts that support quality hospice services, compliant operations, and better communication among administrative and clinical teams. 

And you will learn Hospice fundamentals and key terminology, including what hospice care is and how it differs from other care models. Eligibility, certification, recertification, and election requirements under the hospice benefit. Interdisciplinary team roles and care planning, including development and management of the individualized plan of care. Clinical documentation and compliance expectations, including how records support terminal prognosis, medical necessity, and audit readiness. Billing and reimbursement basics, including levels of care, claim accuracy, and alignment between services, documentation, and the plan of care. 

Who should attend? 

• Coders 
• Administrators 
• CDI 
• Professionals Billers