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July 21, 2025

Hospice Post-Mortem Visits – When to Report the PM Modifier

Hospice agencies are required to report post-mortem visits, precisely until midnight, on the Date of Death (DOD), using the Post-Mortem (PM) Modifier when billing. The DOD is defined as the date reported on the death certificate.

Reporting the post-mortem visit-

Hospices shall report visits and the length of visits (rounded to the nearest 15-minute increment), for nurses, aides, social workers, and therapists who are employed by the hospice, that occur on the date of death, after the patient has passed away (until midnight).
Post-mortem visits occurring on a date after the date of death are not to be reported.
Hospices shall report visits that occur before death on a separate line from those which occur after death (the lines for services performed after death require the PM modifier).

Examples

Assume that a nurse arrives at home at 9 p.m. to provide routine home care (RHC) to a dying patient, and that the patient passes away at 11 p.m. The nurse stays with the family until 1:30 a.m. The hospice should report a nursing visit with eight 15-minute time units for the visit from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. On a separate line, the hospice should report a nursing visit with a PM modifier with four 15-minute time units for the portion of the visit from 11 p.m. to midnight to account for the 1-hour post-mortem visit.
If the patient passes away suddenly, and the hospice nurse does not arrive until after his death at 11:00 p.m., and remains with the family until 1:30 a.m., then the hospice should report a line-item nursing visit with a PM modifier and four 15-minute increments of time as the units to account for the 1-hour post-mortem visit from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.

Reporting Issues to be aware of

When Hospices incorrectly report post-mortem visits using the PM modifier on claims, this can result in errors in the review process and may cause the Service Intensity Add-On (SIA) payment to be applied incorrectly to the claim(s).

Resources:

Medicare Claims Processing Manual Chapter 11 § 30.3 - Data Required on the Institutional Claim to A/B MAC (HHH) – Modifiers

License for Use of "Physicians' Current Procedural Terminology", (CPT) Fourth Edition

AMA Disclaimer of Warranties and Liabilities.

CMS Disclaimer

POINT AND CLICK LICENSE FOR USE OF "CURRENT DENTAL TERMINOLOGY", ("CDT")

Hospice Post-Mortem Visits – When to Report the PM Modifier

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