Get Hospice Intake Form

Hospice care is provided when there is no active or curative treatment being given for the serious illness. "Treatment" during hospice care involves managing symptoms and side effects. Palliative care can be provided while the patient is receiving active treatment.

How often will your staff visit? ... What support do you offer in the case of an emergency? ... How do you provide end-of-life care? ... What makes you different from other hospices?

Sometimes a hospital or clinic will make that call for you if they are recommending hospice care. The hospice intake nurse will collect medical information, insurance numbers, physician orders, and approvals from your insurance if they are needed. This information can usually be collected the same day.

With the patient's consent, the Admissions Department will contact the attending physician to ensure that he or she agrees that hospice care is appropriate. This visit is to further explain hospice services, to assess the patient's needs, and to discuss the patient's and family's goals of care. ...

Hospice care is a special kind of care that focuses on the quality of life for people and their caregivers who are experiencing an advanced, life-limiting illness. Hospice care provides compassionate care for people in the last phases of incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible.

Medicare defines four distinct levels of hospice care. The four levels of hospice defined by Medicare are routine home care, continuous home care, general inpatient care, and respite care.

What Happens Once I'm in Hospice? Your team will come up with a special plan just for you and your loved ones. They will focus on making your pain and symptoms better. They will check on you regularly, and a member of the team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Hospice is for patients whose condition is such that a doctor would not be surprised if the patient died within the next six months. This doesn't mean the patient is going to die in the next six months--it simply means that he or she has a condition that makes dying a realistic possibility.

The four levels of hospice defined by Medicare are routine home care, continuous home care, general inpatient care, and respite care. A hospice patient may experience all four or only one, depending on their needs and wishes.