Section 405IAC5-34-5. Physician certification

   (a) In order for an individual to receive Medicaid-covered hospice services, a physician must certify in writing that the individual is terminally ill and expected to die from that illness within six (6) months. For a dually-eligible Medicaid/Medicare member, the hospice provider must comply with Medicare physician certification requirements, but the provider is not required to complete the Medicaid physician certification form or to submit the physician certification to the office. For a Medicaid-only hospice member, the Medicaid physician certification form must be completed and submitted to office as set out in this section.

  (b) As required by federal regulations, the certification in subsection (a) must:

(1) be completed for the first period of ninety (90) days by the:

(A) medical director of the hospice program or the physician member of the hospice interdisciplinary group; and

(B) member's attending physician if the member has an attending physician;

(2) be completed by one (1) of the physicians listed in subdivision (1)(A) for the second and subsequent periods;

(3) be signed and dated;

(4) identify the diagnosis that prompted the individual to elect hospice services;

(5) include a statement that the prognosis for life expectancy is six (6) months or less; and

(6) be submitted to the office within the time frames in subsection (c).

  (c) The Medicaid physician certification must be submitted for the first period within ten (10) business days of the effective date of the Medicaid-only member's election. For the second and subsequent periods, the Medicaid physician certification must be submitted within ten (10) business days of the beginning of the benefit period.

  (d) For the Medicaid-only hospice member, the Medicaid physician certification form must be included in the member's medical chart in the hospice agency and the member's medical chart in the nursing facility.

  (e) Prior to the beginning of the member's third benefit period or one hundred eightieth day of hospice service and prior to each subsequent benefit period, a hospice physician or hospice nurse practitioner (NP) must have a face-to-face encounter with the member to gather clinical findings to determine continued eligibility for hospice care and must attest in writing that such a visit took place. The face-to-face encounter must occur not more than thirty (30) calendar days prior to:

(1) the third benefit period recertification; and

(2) every subsequent recertification thereafter.

(Office of the Secretary of Family and Social Services; 405 IAC 5-34-5; filed Mar 9, 1998, 9:30 a.m.: 21 IR 2381;readopted filed Jun 27, 2001, 9:40 a.m.: 24 IR 3822; filed Jun 5, 2003, 8:30 a.m.: 26 IR 3638; readopted filed Sep 19, 2007, 12:16 p.m.: 20071010-IR-405070311RFA; filed Feb 14, 2013, 9:48 a.m.: 20130313-IR-405120451FRA; readopted filed Oct 28, 2013, 3:18 p.m.: 20131127-IR-405130241RFA; filed Aug 1, 2016, 3:44 p.m.: 20160831-IR-405150418FRA)