About Hospice Care
Hospice care provides comfort and kindness to those person nearing the end of life’s journey. Hospice is primarily a home care program, but services may also be provided in a hospital or nursing home. A hospice team helps the patient and family make informed decisions about caregiving, teaches the necessary skills for “hands-on” care and helps with the approaching and actual death. Hospice also offers help through the bereavement period.
Criteria for Hospice Services
Admission to our hospice program is made upon the recommendation of your physician and is based upon your needs. Typically, appropriate candidate for hospice are patients with a life expectancy of 6 months or less if the illness runs its normal course who desire palliative treatment, want to stay at home as long as possible and have a primary care person.
Volunteer Services
A vital part of hospice is the carefully selected and well-trained volunteers working alongside the professional staff. These special people provide many different types of support for the hospice program and those coping with terminal illness, grief and loss.
Bereavement
Bereavement services are an integral part of the hospice program. Following a terminal diagnosis, patients and families struggle with anticipatory grief issues. The medical social worker and spiritual counselor are available to assist families during this emotionally difficult time, as well as information on common aspect of anticipatory grief, as well as grief support following a patient’s death.
Medicare Benefits
Medicare will cover the cost of hospice care under your Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A). When all requirements are met, Medicare will cover (if included in the plan of care): physician services, nursing care, medical appliances and supplies, medications for symptom management and pain relief for the terminal illness and related conditions, short-term inpatient care for pain and symptom control, hospice aide/homemaker, spiritual counseling, bereavement counseling, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical social services, dietary counseling, volunteer services, and short-term respite care.
Patient Services
Hospice services include Nursing, Physician Services, Medical Social Services, Hospice Aide/Homemaker Services, Physical, Speech and Occupational Therapy, Volunteer Services and Spiritual, Dietary and Bereavement Counseling. All services are provided under the direction of a physician and/or the Hospice Medical Director.
