Hospice Patient Care Coordinator ~ Erva Jo Yarborough, RN, BSN, CHPH When "Choosing a Hospice" for your loved one, here is a great checklist (from Medicare) to use. Call our agency (575) 437-3500 and we will gladly answer each and every question... Copy THIS LINK to your browser and then print off if you'd like. www.medicare.gov/hospicecompare/scripts/PDF/HospiceChecklist-Final-Clean.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOSPICE IS NOT JUST FOR THE FINAL DAYS OF LIFE
We here at Alamogordo Hospice would like to take a moment of your time to clarify that Hospice (as defined by Medicare and provided by most insurance companies) is NOT just for the final days of life!! During these unprecedented times we are enduring, we have noted a disturbing trend.
The general criteria for admission to the Hospice program (regardless of payor) is essentially, a life expectancy of 6 months or less, if we allow nature to take its course, and most importantly, that the patient or representative wants to focus on comfort measures. That means that patients can be admitted to the Hospice of their choice even if they are not “on their death bed.” Our goal is to help patients and families manage their disease through pain and symptom management; so they can have the best quality possible and enjoy LIVING for however long they have and to support the patient and family through this process.
It is also important to note that there is NOT a 6-month time limit on most hospice coverage. Medicare allows for an initial 90-day service period. At that point if the patient's condition warrants, there is another 90-day period allowed. After that Medicare requires the Hospice Medical Director “see” (now allowed to be performed by telemedicine/video visit during the pandemic) and certify that they still believe the patient has 6 months or less of life. If this is true, they are certified for an additional 60 day service period and this is repeated every 60 days.
The disturbing trend we are noting and that is being reported nationwide, is that patients are coming to Hospice later for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are not being seen as regularly by their Primary Care Provider (PCP) due to “stay at home”/ “social distancing”, or they have been isolated from full access to their families while in acute care. The result we observe is that we are getting more calls to “see the patient as soon as possible” or “get them home to die”. This involves a rush to get necessary medications, equipment and visits compressed into a few hours or days instead of the weeks or months that Medicare intended. Please DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND me, we are blessed to serve each and every one of these patients and families, even if only for a few hours, but we are left with a gut-wrenching feeling of, “There was so much more we COULD have done.” We still offer bereavement support to the loved ones left behind for the next “year” or more, and this is where much of our work on grief must be done, instead of helping patients and families be as prepared as possible for the patient's death.
So, we would like to remind everyone, patients and families alike to think carefully about your own personal end of life preferences. Where do YOU want to spend your final days…weeks...months of life? From the time of our first breath, we each are on the path to our final breath and as the captain of your own health care we beg you to become and or stay informed about your options. There are several tools out there to help you and your family plan for this eventual outcome we all share.