Studies show patients live longer on hospice
Did you know patients live on average 29 days longer with hospice than without? When patients have chronic diseases and require hospitalization, they are weaker at discharge than they were before hospitalization. In many cases, having hospice can prevent an ER visit or hospitalization. Rather than going to the ER for a change in condition, the patient or family can call hospice for interventions, as hospice is available 24/7. Hospice nurses can make a visit to assess the changes, communicate with the physician, and receive orders to treat the changes in the patient without requiring a visit to the ER.
There is no time limit for services
Because hospice manages the symptoms associated with the life-limiting illness, patients’ conditions typically improve after electing the benefit. As long as a patient meets their insurance’s criteria for hospice services, the hospice benefit is not capped and patients can receive hospice for months or sometimes even years.
Hospice provides all medications, medical equipment, and supplies needed for symptom management
Hospice provides the patient with items such as a hospital bed, bedside table, oxygen, assistive ambulation devices, briefs or diapers, barrier creams, gloves, and wound care supplies. Additionally, hospice provides the medications related to the disease process as well as medications needed for comfort.
Your Plan of Care is determined by the patient and their needs
Hospice is very different from any other home care benefit. While home health may be restricted in the frequency of visits, hospice is not. You may have your nurse scheduled to come to the home two times per week, but if something happens, the nurse can come back out, assess the chang and determine if an increase in nursing care is needed.
Hospice care is provided in four distinct levels
- Routine Home Care: The most common level, where care is provided in the patient’s home, which can be a private residence, assisted living facility, or nursing home.
- Respite Care: Short-term inpatient care, typically for up to five days, that gives the patient’s regular caregiver a temporary break.
- Continuous Care: This level is used for short periods of crisis. It involves more intensive care within the patient’s home to manage severe symptoms.
- General Inpatient Care: Short-term care in a hospital or hospice facility, like the Hospice Family Care Inpatient Facility in South Huntsville, for symptoms that are too difficult to manage at home.
HH Health provides hospice care for much of the Tennessee Valley via Hospice Family Care and Lincoln Medical Hospice. If you or a loved one has questions about hospice or is seeking care, reach out to our care teams at the links above.
