Is the Patient’s Regular Doctor Able to Continue Treating Them in Hospice Care?

Southern California

While different hospice providers may offer varying options for who can be a patient’s primary caregiver, a patient does not have to stop seeing their regular doctor or primary care physician just because they have entered into hospice care.

Our medical team is highly trained and capable of meeting a patient’s needs and providing the resources needed by the primary caregiver. Hospice care will ultimately provide everything that a patient needs to feel comfortable and taken care of while their terminal illness runs its course.

However, patients may feel more comfortable continuing to see their primary care physician, and they are welcome to do so. It should be noted that visits to a primary care physician that is not an official part of the hospice team may not be included within a patient’s hospice coverage.

It is important to note that a hospice care team’s primary objective is not to cure the patient or extend their life but to ensure their needs are met and that any pain or discomfort is effectively managed. As such, the hospice team’s goals may at first seem fairly different from a patient’s regular doctor.