Hospice Services

• Frequent hospitalizations or trips to the ER
• Frequent or reoccurring infections
• Reduced desire to eat, leading to significant weight loss and changes in body composition
• Rapid decline in health over past six months, even with aggressive medical treatments
• Uncontrolled pain, shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting
• Decreasing alertness, withdrawal, increased sleeping or mental confusion
• Inability to perform tasks of daily living, such as eating, walking, using the bathroom, personal cleaning or getting dressed
• Decision to focus on quality of life, instead of aggressive treatments.

Hospice Services that are available from Reid Health :

• Offers four levels of care: care in the home, continuous care, respite care & inpatient care
• Ongoing assessment of the patient's condition
• Primary focus of providing and maintaining patient's quality of life
• Pain and symptom management
• Social worker to assist with financial issues and advanced directives
• Chaplain support
• Comfort care and pain managementEmotional support for patient and significant others
• Patient and family education which can include end of life issues
• Medication management
• Wound care
• Catheter care
• Volunteers who assist with respite for caregivers and social support to the patients
• Grief support
• Bereavement follow-up for the family/caregiver
• Hospital respite care to relieve the caregivers and to provide them rest
• 24-hour-a-day on-call support

Yes , hospice is for any patient with any terminal illness, with a 6 month or less life expectancy.

Typically you can receive hospice care for up to 6 months. You can continue to get hospice care after 6 months as long as you still meet the Medicare requirements.

• We are a smaller agency
• With being a smaller agency families get to know each member of the team, so there is never a strange face
• Our physician is very involved and available 24/7 for immediate needs
• While each patient has their own set team, every employee plays an important role in the care they receive.

Yes, patients are never denied hospice no matter their ability to pay.

For some terminally ill patients, hospice can be associated with longer survival times.

Once hospice begins, costs for terminal illnesses and related conditions are covered by an Original Medicare Plan. Original Medicare will also include coverage for benefits listed under the plan's services.

Hospice patients with Medicare Advantage can choose to continue their Medicare Advantage plan to cover services unrelated to terminal illness, but they must pay the Medicare Advantage plan's premium. Reid Health may be going out of network with Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Medicare Advantage plans beginning March 18, 2024, so now is the time to consider changing from Anthem/BCBS to a new option. If you are a Medicare Advantage customer, you can change to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or select an Original Medicare plan, now through March 31, 2024.

Source: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/hospice-care