In simple words: This code indicates that a patient received care focused on relieving symptoms of a serious illness, at any point during the tracking period. This care aims to improve quality of life but doesn't cure the illness.

Documentation for a patient indicates the patient received palliative care at any time during the relevant program measure’s measurement period. Palliative care is the treatment or relief of symptoms of a condition that does not cure the disease or condition. This is a tracking code for performance measurement.

Example 1: A patient with advanced cancer receives pain management and emotional support services throughout the measurement period. The palliative care is documented, and G0031 is used for tracking and reporting purposes., A patient with heart failure experiences worsening symptoms and receives palliative care consultations to address shortness of breath and anxiety during the measurement period. G0031 is reported., A patient with end-stage renal disease receives symptom management and spiritual support as part of palliative care during the measurement period, which is tracked using code G0031.

Documentation must clearly indicate that the patient received palliative care services during the measurement period. The documentation should specify the type of palliative care provided, the date(s) of service, and the physician's order for the services.

** Some G codes represent professional healthcare procedures and services that would otherwise be coded in CPT but for which there are no CPT codes. Other G codes may be reported by providers participating in programs such as a Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) designed to improve the quality of patient care through certain incentives to participating providers.