Hospice at Home

What is involved in home hospice care?

When is it time?

Most individuals and family members know when end-of-life is near and desire the best in care for this phase of life. Questions like is it time, do I qualify, what is covered, how does it work, are some of the most common questions we are asked. We have staff willing and ready to answer those questions for you. They will make a visit to your home or speak with you on the phone to answer those questions for you. Feel free to reach out to us for information any day of the week.

Making a referral

The first step to receiving home hospice care is to contact the hospice and provide information about you. Sometimes a hospital or clinic will make that call for you if they are recommending hospice care. The hospice intake nurse will collect medical information, insurance numbers, physician orders, and approvals from your insurance if they are needed. This information can usually be collected the same day.

Admission Visit

Following the collection of information about you a nurse will visit your home to admit you to hospice services. During that first visit the nurse will describe services, review your medications, determine your equipment needs, assess your current physical status, and review admission paperwork.

It takes about an hour or more to admit an individual into hospice care. Health care providers are subject to numerous regulations that require notification to protect patients and their loved ones from abuse. Please be comforted by the detail required to set up your care properly.

Ongoing Care

Once you are admitted to care the real benefit of hospice becomes apparent. Your individual team will travel this journey by your side. You will have a nurse case manager who coordinates all of your care. That nurse is called a patient care coordinator at Horizon. It is the nurse’s job to help you select a team. Your team may include a social worker, a chaplain, the nurse, physician, aide, volunteer, and bereavement counselor. It sounds like quite a few individuals, but do not feel intimidated by the large group, you will never see them all at one time and you may choose not to have that many members on your individual team.

Below are some of the unique skills each team member offers to you and your family:

Nurses' Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the members of your team
• Manage pain control
• Visit you on a regular basis
• Teach family members about care
• Provide hospice related medication and medication teaching