Determining the correct hospice care you or a family member requires at the end-of-life might appear such as a daunting task to defend myself against during an already difficult time. In a recently available blog describing hospice and palliative care, I’ve received many responses from readers who wish to understand how to select a hospice program that’s right for them. A number of these readers have shared their experiences with me on hospice care; good quality, and others bad. I have compiled some tips from industry experts to simply help take the guesswork out of picking a hospice hospice near me.
One of many first items to remember when beginning your seek out hospice care is to realize hospices are first and foremost a business, and while a well-intended business, they desire yours. That said, it`s important to ask questions and get answers before committing to anything. Differences between hospices in many cases are hard to ascertain while they tend to provide similar services. While memberships in state hospice organizations and The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) may seem impressive, these are offered to any hospice. What does matter is a hospice is Medicare certified, as Medicare provides the baseline requirements for quality care.
To qualify for Medicare certification, hospices must offer 16 separate core and auxiliary services. Core services include bereavement counseling, nutritional services and doctor services. Continuous home care, physical therapy, medication administration and household services are all examples of auxiliary services. Also important is whether a hospice will accept your insurance. The Hospice Blog offers some good advice and tips that will help streamline the search process for you. First, learn who owns the hospice agency you are considering, and what the owner`s background is. Is the hospice service nonprofit, for profit or government operated? The type of ownership may influence the services a hospice patient receives. And communicate with the administrator when contacting a hospice.
Let’s face it, the administrator gets the authority to express yes or no to anything the hospice office assistant or hospice employer has promised you. When you have found a hospice that fits your requirements, make sure it’s the home office, rather than branch. Generally, the nurse who resides at your home office has usage of anyone in charge. Branch offices will not have employees who make financial or business decisions. Finally, before selecting a hospice, learn where in actuality the on-call nurse lives. If the nurse lives far from the patient requiring hospice care, the response time will take longer.