What is Hospice Care?

Hummingbird Hospice is a Medicare-certified hospice provider, which means we must provide four different levels of hospice care. Anyone who is qualified for Medicare can receive one of the four levels of hospice care.

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Homecare on a Regular Basis

Routine home care is the most basic level of hospice care that may be offered in your home, assisted living facility, or nursing home. Hospice caregivers and your physician work together to provide comfort at the end of life in this level of care. The focus of at home comfort care is on living, with compassionate support for the patient and the family, and includes expert management of symptoms and pain. Oftentimes, patients or families wait too long to gain the full benefits of at home care and hospice. Patients that choose hospice at home services typically live longer than those that do not, with improved quality of life.

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Hummingbird Hospice includes a team of highly trained professionals, providing the following comforting at home care services:

• Expert medical care –Our hand-picked team of compassionate professionals includes Certified Hospice and Palliative Care physicians, skilled Registered Nurses (RN), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), trained Home Health Aides (HHA), experienced case managers, social workers, volunteers, and chaplains.

• Customized care plan – Our expert care team works together with the patient and family to create a personalized care plan which will meet the needs, and ensure comfort and dignity, to those managed under our care.

• Durable medical equipment – Medical equipment needs that improve comfort and safety, such as a walker, wheelchair, commode, oxygen, and hospital bed will be assessed and provided.

• Medication - medication will be supplied to for pain and symptom management.

• Emergency access – our care team is available 24/7, our afterhours team is available for all emergencies and concerns.

• Assistance with activities of daily living and companionship – it is the little things that make a difference from a compassionate staff that cares about every patient and family.

• Bereavement support – support for family and loved ones for a period of up to 13 months following hospice care.

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Care at Home on a Continuous Basis

There are times when routine home hospice care requires an increase in the medical care that is required to manage physical symptoms. Continuous Care may be required to temporarily control severe pain and symptoms, with the goal being that a patient can remain in their home and familiar surroundings during such crisis. If your loved one is experiencing severe symptoms such as unrelieved pain or shortness of breath, continuous home care is an option.

 

Hummingbird Hospice provides Continuous Care for patients who are in need of a nurse to remain at the bedside to help manage uncontrolled symptoms. This care includes nursing care for a short period of time while plan of care and medications are being adjusted to effectively manage pain and symptoms. The goal is to achieve comfort as soon as possible and return to a routine level of home care with a new plan of care. During a medical emergency, however, your hospice physician or nurse may determine that general inpatient care is the best alternative to meet your loved one’s requirements.

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Inpatient Care in General

Severe pain or other symptoms may necessitate a higher degree of care, which is more successfully delivered during a brief stay in a hospice facility for General Inpatient Care. If your loved one’s demands become more complex, the hospice staff may propose moving your loved one to a partnered inpatient level of care facility, where medical professionals are available 24/7 to provide more intensive nursing care. Patients benefit from experienced providers dedicated to listening to patient and family requests, serving as an advocate for the patient when friends and family are unable to visit. The objective of inpatient hospice care is to manage severe pain and symptoms so that your loved one can, if at all possible, return home to their family and familiar surroundings and start normal hospice care again.

 

Hummingbird Hospice provides General Inpatient Care to patients in a facility, such as an assisted living facility, private care home, or long-term care facility.  Patients currently residing in these settings, or their own home may begin to receive hospice care once determined eligible by their primary care physician and our hospice medical director.  Inpatient care may be required if the patient’s needs change, and they require more intensive nursing intervention.

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Indications that a patient may require General Inpatient Care may include:

• Frequent medication adjustment to control symptoms

• Uncontrollable seizure, restlessness, or agitation

• Sudden deterioration of condition requiring more intensive care

• Stabilization of uncontrollable pain, nausea, or vomiting

• Chronic or acute symptom management that cannot be provided at home

• The need for intravenous medications with close monitoring for symptom relief

• Complex wound care requiring frequent dressing changes that cannot be managed at home

• Minor procedures to aid patient comfort such as draining fluid or inserting a drain tube

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When patients transfer to an inpatient facility, they may face emotional hardships, along with family members. Hummingbird Hospice helps families by bringing comfort, peace, and dignity to those with a life-limiting illness. We are committed to making a difference with quality of life.

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Respite Care

Respite care refers to a period of time to rest. This is another level of short-term hospice care to relieve family members or primary caregivers. The respite level of hospice care is delivered on an as-needed basis and provides unpaid family caregivers with a scheduled, short-term break from the responsibilities of aiding a loved one with an advanced disease. Caregivers can become overwhelmed when caring for a loved one with a terminal illness and forgo their own personal wellness. Families and caregivers can take advantage of skilled hospice care with Medicare covering up to 5 consecutive days on an occasional basis. Respite care can be provided in the home, or an inpatient facility. If your loved one’s plan of care requires 24-hour care, it can only be offered at a Medicare-certified inpatient hospice facility, hospital, or skilled nursing facility with the ability to provide round-the-clock nursing care. Please discuss the respite level of care with our Patient Care Coordinator or your Registered Nurse.

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How do you know what level of hospice care is right for you?

Your physician or specialist, a hospice physician or nurse visiting you, or a loved one in the home, hospital, or assisted living/nursing home, will decide the right degree of end-of-life care. A Hummingbird nurse will do an evaluation to determine the appropriate degree of hospice care for you. Please contact your healthcare provider or a hospice nurse if you have any inquiries.

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If you would like to know more on the levels of hospice care, call our office at (210) 908-9774 for more insight.

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