For Hospice Coordinators ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a reliable ChatGPT workflow for drafting CMS-compliant hospice recertification narratives in under 15 minutes per patient — cutting your current 45–90 minute writing process down dramatically. You'll have a reusable system prompt that includes key Medicare hospice eligibility language so you don't have to re-explain the requirements every time.
What you'll need
Go to chatgpt.com and click Sign up. Use your work or personal email and complete verification. You'll arrive at the main chat interface.
What you should see: A centered text box with "Message ChatGPT" as the placeholder text, and a left sidebar showing your chat history.
Each new chat session, paste a context-setting message first. This tells ChatGPT what you need without re-explaining every time. Use this starter (save it in your notes for easy copy-paste):
You are a hospice clinical documentation assistant. I will give you clinical bullet points about a patient and you will draft a CMS-compliant hospice recertification narrative. The narrative must:
- Use Medicare hospice eligibility language ("terminal prognosis of 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course")
- Reference specific clinical indicators relevant to the patient's diagnosis
- Include functional decline markers (PPS scale if known, ADL dependence, mobility)
- Mention symptom burden and management
- Be 150-250 words
- NOT include patient names, dates of birth, or any PHI
After the context message, list the patient's de-identified clinical indicators as bullets. Include:
ChatGPT will generate the narrative. Read it carefully and verify:
Edit the output for any errors, then paste into your EHR narrative field.
Copy your context-setting message (Step 2) and save it in a Word document or Notes app labeled "ChatGPT Recertification Setup." You'll paste this at the start of each new ChatGPT session.