What qualifies as a hospice dementia code?

According to the fiscal intermediatary (such as NHIC, Palmetto, etd) of the hospice organization you will find LCD (Licensed Coverage Determination) guidlines which outline the criteria that the patient must meet in order to qualify for hospice services under a particular diagnosis. Under the general guidelines for most fiscal intermediataries the diagnosis or Dementia outlines the patient should present with the following: - Stage 7 or beyound according to the FAST (Functional Assessment Standarized Test) scale, No consistently meaningful verbal communication - 6 or less intelligible Words, unable to ambulate without assistance, etc...

When the individual meets this criteria it would support the overall recognition that should the Dementia disease process run its normal course the individual would have the life expectancy of 6 months or less. It is important for the medical team caring for individuals with Dementia diagnosis who are seeking hospice intervention to review all of the patient's diagnosis to determine if Dementia is the most appropriate hospice diagnosis.