The palliative care program can produce revenues from physician services. And, depending upon state regulations, reimbursement may exist for other professional non-physician services.

Estimating physician revenue requires assumptions about 3 variables:

1. Service mix (range of services provided and how they are coded)
2. Service volume (number of patients seen)
3. Payer mix (who provides the reimbursement)

The example below shows an estimate for income projections from palliative care services.

• This example assumes all patients have Medicare coverage (and the billing physician participates in Medicare).
• The physician sees four new patients per day as well as follows-up on 10 patients per day, along with one family meeting per day where the patient is present.
• The Medicare fee schedule, which varies by location, is based upon rates for San Diego.
• Given these assumptions, the estimated annual revenue from physician billings is $485,567.