• Hospice is not a place but a concept of care that is recognized as the model of quality, compassionate health care compassionate health care delivery for people facing life-limiting illness.
• There are 3,200 hospice providers in the United States that provided care to more than 885,000 terminally ill Americans in 2002.
• Hospice care utilizes an interdisciplinary team of health care professional and trained volunteers that address symptom control, pain management and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient’s needs and wishes.
• Support, caregiver training and grief counseling are available for family and loved ones. Bereavement services are available for a year following the death of the patient.
• While most hospice services are available for a year following the death of the patient.
• While most hospice services are provided in the home, care is also available in most skilled nursing facilities, residential care settings and inpatient hospitals.
• Hospice allows the illness to follow its natural course. The focus is on caring, not curing.
• Hospice provides care regardless of diagnosis.
• Hospice services are covered under Medicare Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs and other managed cure organizations.
• Increasing awareness is vital
• While the number of Americans receiving hospice and palliative care grows each year, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization estimates that for every patient who receives hospice, another patient could benefit from the comprehensive services hospice provides but does not receive this special care.
• In 2001, NHPCO statistics reveal that 34 percent of hospice patients died within seven days or less, often an inadequate time for the patient and family to take advantage of the range of available services.
• Many people are unaware that hospice care is available for nursing family residents.
• Lack of awareness of hospice means that too many Americans still die alone or in pain. Too many patients are being referred to hospice care too late or not at all. And too many families are left without bereavement support.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that expanding the reach of hospice care holds enormous potential benefits for those nearing the end of life, whether they are in nursing homes, their own homes or in hospitals.

Hospice care is not limited to six months of service

• While many insurance companies, as well as the Medicare Hospice Benefit, require that a terminally ill patient have a prognosis of six months or less, there is not a six-month limit to hospice care services.
• Hospice eligibility requirements should not be confused with length of service.
• A patient in the final phase of life may received hospice care for as long as necessary when a physician certifies that he or she continues to meet eligibility requirements.
• Under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, two 90-day periods of care (a total of 6 months) are followed by an unlimited number of 60-day periods.

Americans are aging

• Today there are more than 40 million American over the age of 65; in the next 30 years that number is expected to double.
• People over the age of 85 are the fastest growing segment of our population.
• It is estimated that there are more than 72,000 people who have reached 100 years of age. In the next 50 years that number is expected to reach 834,000.
• It is estimated that fewer than 25 percent of all Americans have completed advance directives that tell their family and physicians what their wishes would be should they face a life-limiting illness.

Hospice is the care Americans want

• Research shows that almost 80 percent of Americans would prefer to die in their homes, free of pain and surrounded by family and loved ones. Hospice makes this happen. Currently only about 25 percent of people die at home.
• Hospice and palliative care addresses the major concern of most Americans.

How to find a hospice program:
Choosing hospice care means that you have decided to pursue care focused on comfort to live your remaining days as fully as possible. Talk to your doctor about when hospice is appropriate for you. Let him or her know you are interested in hospice care, and ask for help in making that decision.
Hospice programs have arrangements with hospitals and nursing homes for short term inpatient and respite care. If you prefer a particular hospital or facility, ask which hospice programs provide services there.
The Minnesota Department of Health licenses hospice programs and conducts on-site surveys so you can be assured that the hospice meets quality guidelines.
In addition, hospice programs can choose to become Medicare Certified and comply with federal guidelines for care and survey process.
You may call Hospice Minnesota at 651-659-0423 or toll free at 1-800-214-9597 for a list of state licensed and Medicare-certified programs that serve your community. You may also call the Minnesota Department of Health at 651-215-8700.
— Information from “Choosing Hospice: A Consumer’s Guide”