Hospice
How Hospice Works
Hospice services are available to persons who can no longer benefit from curative treatment; the typical hospice patient has a life expectancy of six months or less. Most receive care at home.
Services are provided by a team of trained professionals - physicians, nurses, counselors, therapists, social workers, Chaplains, aides, and volunteers - who provide medical care and support services not only to the patient, but to the patient's family and loved ones.
Hospice offers palliative, rather than curative treatment. Under direction of a physician, hospice uses sophisticated methods of pain and symptom control that enable the patient to live as fully and as comfortably as possible. Hospice treats the person, not the disease.
What is Hospice?
Hospice is a philosophy of palliative and compassionate care for those who have a limited life expectancy that can be implemented in the comfort and familiarity of one's home, skilled nursing facility, or wherever the patient resides. ASSISTIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE promotes the belief that each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity and that our families will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so. Hospice is a special kind of care designed to provide sensitivity and support for those in the final phase of terminal illness. ASSISTIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE seeks to enable patients to carry on an alert, pain-free life and to manage other symptoms so that their last days may be spent with dignity and quality at home or in a home-like setting.
Who pays for Hospice?
ASSISTIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE is Medicare/MediCal certified and accepts Medicare, Medi-Cal, private insurance and other forms of reimbursement for its services. For care unrelated to the patient's primary diagnosis, Medicare and Medi-Cal will continue to provide their normal benefits. Medicare and most Medi-Cal programs offer coverage for Hospice services. Since ASSISTIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE accepts Medicare and Medi-Cal as 100% coverage for its services, there are no out-of-pocket expenses to patients and/or their families for services related to their terminal diagnosis.
Who is the Hospice Team?
Our interdisciplinary teams (IDT) are specially coordinated by a registered nurse and physician to address the unique needs of each patient and his/her family. Generally, each team will comprise of:
Medical Director,
Nurse Case Manager,
Certified Home Health Aide,
Social Worker,
Chaplain/Spiritual Counselor,
Bereavement Counselor,
Volunteers.