Refer a Patient

Liver Disease Hospice Eligibility Criteria

The liver helps digest food, filter toxins from the blood, and makes proteins to help blood clot. When your liver becomes damaged by a virus, chemicals or autoimmune disease, it will begin to scar. Once the damage becomes serious enough, the liver can no longer heal itself. This stage is called cirrhosis. A patient is determined to have liver failure when the liver is losing or has lost all function.

Patients are considered to have end-stage liver disease when they meet the following hospice criteria. If your loved one meets the liver disease hospice eligibility requirements, you should consider scheduling a hospice consultation.

Liver disease hospice eligibility criteria:

  • Weakness and compromised ability perform activities of daily living (ADLs)
  • Recurrent variceal hemorrhage
  • Hepatic encephalopathy
  • Prothrombin time prolonged more than five seconds over control or INR > 1.5
  • Serum Albumin < 2.5 gm/dl
  • Peritonitis
  • Elevated creatinine and BUN with Oliguria <400 ml/day and urine sodium concentration <10 mEq/l
  • Ascites
  • Malnutrition
  • Muscle wasting
  • Asterixis
  • May be awaiting liver transplant, but if organ is procured, the patient is no longer eligible

When to call hospice.

If a patient with liver disease meets the hospice criteria listed above or if they have received a terminal diagnosis of less than six months, please contact Crossroads for a free consultation: 888-564-3405.

Ready to refer a patient?

If you're a healthcare professional ready to refer a patient with liver disease for hospice care,  please submit a patient referral form online. Our dedicated team is here to provide support and guidance throughout the referral process. 

When is it time to call hospice? Get a free eligibility guide now.