Palliative Care Z51.5

Palliative Care

Z51.5 Encounter for Palliative Care Reporting

It is essential when the treating provider documents the patient is receiving palliative care that the coding abstract reflects the assignment of code Z51.5 Encounter for palliative care. This code should be reported within one of the first 8 secondary diagnosis fields to ensure it is reported on the UB-04. There are several statistics gathered for healthcare organizations regarding outcomes and mortality for public reporting. The coding data needs to accurately reflect our patient population for these measures. Included in this alert are resources from Coding Clinic to provide guidance for accurate reporting. If at any time you have a question regarding the appropriate reporting of any diagnosis or procedure please contact your supervisor prior to finalizing the coding abstract for an encounter. 

**Coding Clinic Guidance for Palliative Care Reporting**

Palliative care is an alternative to aggressive treatment for patients who are in the terminal phase of an illness. Care is focused on the management of pain and other symptoms of the disease, which is often more appropriate than aggressive care when a patient is dying of an incurable illness. Code Z51.5 Encounter for palliative care, is used to classify admissions or encounters for comfort care, end-of-life care, hospice care, and terminal care for terminally ill patients. It may be used in any health care setting.

Common terminology providers may use to reference palliative care:  

• Hospice Care  

• End-Of-Life Care 

• Comfort Care  

• Palliative Care  

• Comfort Measures Only (CMO)