What is Hospice?
Hospice is a program of health care services designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatment. Hospice care is sensitive to the unique needs of each patient and family. It considers the entire family, not just the patient, to be the unit of care.
Under hospice care, patients and their families will have the opportunity to prepare for end-of-life experiences with dignity. Hospice neither quickens nor postpones death. A team delivers care of professionals who address the needs of patients and their families on medical, physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. Services are provided with privacy and dignity in the patient's home, board, and care, nursing homes, and assisted living care facilities.
How Hospice Works
Hospice services are available to patients with a life expectancy of six months or less. Our goal is to keep our patients as pain-free and alert as possible so they can spend their last days in dignity and comfort and most importantly, living to the end according to their own terms.
Trained medical professionals and volunteers are part of our Interdisciplinary Team {IDT), which employs proven methods of pain control and symptom management. This care is provided wherever the patient currently resides or considers home. We make no attempt to speed or delay death but focus on the quality of life while accepting that death is simply a natural part of the process.
Any patient can choose to stop receiving hospice care at any time, for any reason. In this case, the healthcare benefits from the standard or managed-care Medicare program will continue. Sometimes, a patient's health might improve to the point they aren't considered terminally ill, and no longer eligible for the hospice benefit. However, patients can always resume hospice care as long as they meet the eligibility requirements and are certified by the physicians and hospice team involved.
Our Hospice Team
01. 24/7 Availability
Our hospice nurses are available 24/7 by phone and if the crisis cannot be solved over the phone our nurses will come out to your home to ensure the patient is comfortable and cared for.
02. Medicare/ Medicaid/ Insurance Benefit
Hospice is paid in full by most Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance plans at zero out of pocket costs to patients and their families. The standard hospice benefit is for 6 months, and a patient will be discharged from hospice if their life expectancy increases to over 6 months, but the Hospice Medicare Benefit does not expire and can be extended on a case by case basis.
03. Care for life-threatening illnesses
Our hospice team cares for patients, with cancer, lung disease, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer's, kidney failure, liver failure, and a variety of other terminal conditions.
04. Bereavement Services
Bridges offers grief support and counseling that is needed for families and patients going through this challenging time in their lives. In addition, we offer COVID-19 grief and crisis support to combat feelings of isolation, depression, and loneliness.
05. Patient choice of setting
Patients can receive their hospice services from Bridges at home, in family members’ homes, in a nursing facility, assisted living communities, independent living facilities, or wherever they choose to call home.
06. Medical, Emotional, and Spiritual Support
At Bridges, we offer the full range of services for the patient’s comfort and dignity. Most patients end up wishing they had started our services earlier in their illness, so they could be comfortable longer at home.
07. Education and Assistance
Our Bridges Hospice team provides support, education, and assistance for families going through this challenging time on how to support their loved ones, as well as themselves.
08. Maximize patient quality care
Bridges hospice can actually maximize the quality of care for patients, extending their comfort and ability to attend a special event, wedding grandchild's birth, etc in a happy and content manner.
09. Medications, treatments, equipment, supplies
We offer durable medical equipment as needed by our patients, and medication for quality pain management and supplies along with a comfort kit related to their diagnosis. As needed we can also provide short-term inpatient care, specialized therapy, nutrition counseling, lab work, and other services.
10. Choices
At Bridges, we honor our patient’s wishes and offer them choices for how they want to live with a terminal diagnosis.
Benefits at a Glance
Goal of Care
Maintaining quality of life, Pain Management, Patient Comfort
Where Hospice Occurs
Wherever the patient calls home
Durable Medical Equipment, as needed*
Specialized hospital bed, Oxygen, Wheelchair, Walker / rollator, Suction machine, Handheld nebulizer, Shower chair, Bedside table—*RN Case Manager will consider individual needs when assessing which benefits are required
Additional Services, as needed
Short-term impatient care, Specialized therapy, Nutrition counseling, Lab work, Bereavement support, Homemaker, Hospice volunteer, Cosmetologist