Written and reviewed by the Lily Hospice clinical team. Updated September 2026.
Short answer: Yes. On hospice you keep your own doctor. Medicare lets every hospice patient name an “attending physician” (your primary care doctor, oncologist, cardiologist, or nurse practitioner) who keeps directing your care alongside the hospice team and its medical director. Your doctor keeps billing Medicare as usual for visits related to your illness, and the hospice nurse keeps them informed. If you would rather let the hospice medical director take over, that is allowed too. What changes is not who your doctor is, but that a nurse now reaches them for you.
How it works in practice
- At admission you name your attending physician. Lily contacts their office the same day, gets the hospice certification signed, and sets up how orders will flow.
- Day to day, the hospice nurse assesses you, then calls your doctor (or our medical director, whichever you chose) for medication changes. You are not calling the office and waiting for a callback; the nurse is.
- Your doctor can still see you, in the office or by telehealth, and bill Medicare Part B as before. Many families find visits become less necessary because the nurse is in the home weekly.
- Specialists stay involved when it makes sense: a cardiologist adjusting a diuretic, an oncologist advising on comfort-focused radiation. Treatments meant to cure the terminal illness are outside the hospice benefit; treatments meant to relieve symptoms are inside it, and a good hospice says which is which in plain words.
What if my doctor doesn’t do hospice?
Some physicians prefer not to serve as attending on hospice, or their practice is not set up for it. Then Lily’s medical director, a physician who oversees every plan of care, becomes your attending. You can also switch later in either direction. And if your doctor is unreachable on a weekend, our medical director can issue orders so care does not stall.
Can I still go to the hospital?
Yes, and the hospice should be the first call, because most emergencies (pain, breathing, agitation) can be handled at home faster than an ER can. If a hospital stay is needed for a symptom that cannot be managed at home, hospice arranges it under the general inpatient level of care. Treatment unrelated to the terminal illness (a broken wrist, say) is covered by regular Medicare as always.
What about my medications?
Medications for comfort and for the terminal illness come through the hospice at no cost to you. Medications for unrelated conditions stay with your Part D plan. At admission the nurse and your doctor review the whole list; some long-term preventive medicines are usually stopped because they no longer help, and that conversation happens with you, not around you.
Questions to ask any hospice about this
- Will you work with my current doctor as attending, and how quickly do you reach them?
- Who is your medical director, and how often do they review my plan of care?
- If my doctor is unavailable, what happens at 8 p.m. on a Friday?
- Which of my medications will you cover, and which stay with my Part D plan?
Lily serves Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties and works with attending physicians from every metro Detroit health system and from independent practices. Call (248) 955-5100. More: what Medicare covers, what happens in the first visit, how to choose a hospice.
Hospice isn’t giving up. It’s showing up.