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Is it time for hospice?

Ready for Comfort Care

 

The word hospice, to many people, means end-of-life and some may delay their decision to discuss this option. What hospice represents is pain and symptom management, and the opportunity to spend quality time with your loved one while experienced hospice professionals assist with the comfort care a loved one deserves. It’s having an extra layer of uniquely specialized care during a medical crisis, being able to keep the patient at their place of residence, comfortable and pain free. Even if your loved one is not currently eligible for hospice care, gathering information prior to the immediate need will allow time to understand the different options available when the time arises.

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Hospice is available to a patient when curative measures have been exhausted and life prognosis is six months or less. Hospice is not a place, it is a service.

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  • Addresses the patient’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs

  • Provides assistance to the patient’s family and caregivers

  • Takes place in the patient’s home or in a home-like setting

  • Concentrates on managing a patient’s pain and other symptoms so that they may live comfortably as possible and make the most of the time that remains

  • Believes the quality of life to be as important as the length of life

Hospice Eligibility & Criteria

 

Eligibility can depend on a specific illness and if the curative plan is no longer affective. Homestead's disease specific programs are designed to alleviate pain and symptoms while providing the comfort care that allows quality time with your loved one. See the quick check list below and specific disease eligibility criteria to determine if your loved one qualifies for hospice.

Quick Check List

Time to consider hospice if your family member has experienced one or more of the following:

  • Diagnosis of a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less

  • No plans for further aggressive or curative treatments

  • Frequent trips to the hospital/emergency room

  • Loss of weight

  • Frequent falls

  • Rapid decline of health

  • Deteriorating cognitive/mental abilities

  • Incontinence of bowl or bladder

  • Frequent or recurrent infections

  • Two or more life-threatening conditions

Hospice Eligibility & Criteria
Who Pays for Hospice?

 

Hospice services become available when a cure to a patient’s terminal illness and related conditions is no longer working and comfort care is the focus. There are several ways that hospice care is reimbursed. Hospice care is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid in most states, the Department of Veterans Affairs, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations. The hospice benefit allows the patient to stay in the comfort of their place of residence with pain and symptoms are managed.

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A Homestead team member is ready to discuss hospice eligibility criteria or any questions you may have.

Homestead Programs:
 
Levels of Care
Care Beyond Cancer
 

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