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Top Benefits of Hospice Care
Coordination of Care
If you’ve ever tried to coordinate multiple doctors, multiple prescriptions and multiple appointments, you may have discovered that often one health provider is unaware of what another health care provider is prescribing. You will appreciate our team approach.
Hospice care is a team-centered way of caring for people. The Team is composed of specialists in hospice care; they coordinate their activities and include the patient and the family in developing an approach to caring for the patient and meeting the family’s needs.
We will see to it that everyone is on the same page and knows what is happening.
We offer a free, 30-minute consultation in your home or at the hospital. To learn more, call 970-641-4254.
Reduced Financial Strain on Patient/Family
Patients eligible for the Medicare or Medicaid Hospice benefit don’t have to worry about juggling multiple medical bills. They can relax. All visits by the Hospice Team are completely covered with no co-pays or deductibles. In addition, oxygen, medical equipment and medications are covered by Hospice without co-pay.
Many private insurance plans offer similar comprehensive coverage for Hospice. Instead of paying bills, families can concentrate on spending time with their loved ones.
Thanks to the Generosity of the Community, No One Is Ever Turned Away Due to an Inability to Pay.
Medications Covered
Frequently, the medications required to treat the symptoms of a serious illness are very expensive. Often, they are not covered by Medicare Part D or require co-pay from other insurance.
The Hospice Medicare Benefit covers – at 100% with no co-pay – all medications required to keep the patient comfortable and symptoms managed.
Our pharmacy plan provides home delivery of medication. Our staff assists with prescription refills and they are sent directly to you.
No more last minute trips to the pharmacy!
Hospice Comes to You Where Ever That May Be
Given the choice, most of us would prefer to die at home. The Hospice Team provides services that goes to the patient’s residence, wherever that may be – in the patient’s home, a nursing home, assisted living residence, hospital, camper, or even a motel room.
Hospice will help provide everything it takes to stay at home – from helping to have grab bars installed in the bathroom to arranging for a hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, supplies and delivery of medications.
In addition, trained Hospice volunteers provide companionship, light housecleaning, errand running, meal preparation, and a break for the family caregiver.
We Provide Help for the Entire Family
Families may be thrown into turmoil when they learn there are no more treatments for a loved one’s serious illness. Sometimes, it’s hard to talk about the impact of the situation with the family. Many times, patients want to protect their families from feeling sad or frightened – and families don’t want their loved ones to think they have given up hope.
That is why the family is such an important component in the care that Hospice provides. Our social worker is specially trained and talented in easing communication and providing support.
Each Hospice professional and volunteer has a caring heart and a listening ear.
Hospice Is for More Than Cancer.
Hospice cares for anyone who needs care and who has a disease that – if it runs its normal course – could take their life in six months. This means that we care for everyone from babies to grandparents with life limiting illnesses. That means we care for people suffering from heart disease, lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, cancer – whatever the disease may be.
Hospice is about quality of life and not quantity; it doesn’t mean giving up hope. It means turning to specialized care aimed at making everyone – both the patient and the family – more comfortable and focused on the time that is left.
Research shows that people who receive hospice care, on average, live 29 days longer than those who don’t.
Our goal is to make whatever time a person has as comfortable and as meaningful as possible.
Need Us? We Are There.
It’s 7:00 p.m. The doctor’s office is closed. And suddenly your loved one is in pain. Sound familiar?
Things seem more worrisome after the sun goes down. That’s why our staff is ready to respond 24-hours a day, 7 days a week – whether to your phone call or the need for a visit.
The visit schedule and the makeup of the Hospice Care Team are individualized to every patient and family. When the patient’s situation is well under control, a check-in visit once a week may be all that’s necessary. Other times, daily visits are required to assure that the needs of the patient and/or the family is being met.
Learn What to Expect.
Suddenly taking care of a seriously ill loved one can be overwhelming. It’s a job most of us are not trained to do.
We don’t know what to expect. Not knowing what to do may be the most challenging thing in the world. We may not know how to do what the patient needs—from giving a bath to giving a medication.
The Hospice Team provides education and training to caregivers to boost their confidence and to assure that the patient is comfortable.
When death is near, fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. Our Team teaches the family the signs and symptoms of approaching death and what to do about them.
Knowing what to expect can ease the burden and reduce the anxiety many caregivers feel.
Teaching families how to take care of loved ones as well as themselves– another benefit of Hospice.
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