LEVELS OF CARE

Most people hear the word hospice and think it is a place. In fact hospice can be anywhere a person calls home. A hospice has four different levels of care.

Routine Care
Routine care is the level that most patients are initially admitted to. They are still entitled to care from the entire team. The only thing that will be different is the amount of time and visits from the team. That is decided based on your individual needs. The nurse, the home health aide, our physician, chaplain and social worker will all be there for support.

Respite Care
Respite care is for those patients living in a private home and being cared for primarily by family members. The family members need some time to themselves to regenerate or attend family functions like a wedding or vacation. We arrange to have the patient moved to a skilled, medicare-certified, nursing home facility and cared for in blocks of 5 days, maximum. This is a nice way to care for those caring for you.

Continuous Care/Crisis Care
This level of care is for a patient that is having a crisis and needs increased services. A crisis could be defined as the need for pain management, a symptom out of control, or family breakdown. There are very specific criteria for this through Medicare and it is not a long term benefit. Our team will be with the patient and family in their home for 24/7 until the crisis is diverted or a plan is in place to address it long term. See continuous care criteria for more details.

Inpatient Level of Care
This is utilized for the same reason as Continuous care/Crisis care; however it is a facility that the patient is transferred to. The family may also decide they do not want their loved one dying in the home and feel that the tranquil environment of hospice inpatient facility would be best for their situation. Inpatient level of care has the same criteria as continuous care. See continuous care criteria for more details.