Where Can Hospice Services Be Used?
Many individuals believe that hospice can only be received in one’s home. While it is indeed correct that the home can be used as the main setting, hospice care can also be provided in several other places depending on the type of care that the patient requires. For example, patients who require certain treatments that cannot be given at home may be admitted to an inpatient program, such as a hospital or a palliative care unit. Patients who are already living in an assisted living facility or nursing home can even receive hospice care there.
Hospice Care Provides Treatment & Services to Patients
When hospice care is given in a facility other than the patient’s home, the hospice care team will generally take over the care program for the patient other than certain treatments that the primary care doctor may need to prescribe. In a nursing home setting, for example, this typically means that the patient or his or her family members would pay the hospice program for all services that are used, and hospice would pay the nursing home for room and board.
However, many patients appreciate that they can receive hospice care in their own homes. They want to die on their own terms and in their own surroundings. This can help to fill them with peace and contentment as they live out their final days. Hospice will typically assign home health aides to help these patients with daily care, such as dressing and bathing, and volunteers may be used for companionship or to run necessary errands for the patient. Patients are able to receive medications to give them comfort and to relieve their pain in their homes and can have needed medical equipment brought in for a fee.
Finding & Financing Hospice Care Options
Most insurance companies cover hospice resources equally no matter where the patient is receiving care. This also applies to Medicare, which will cover all equipment supplies, prescriptions, and care given by the hospice team at 100% if the request for hospice coverage is granted.
