What is Continuous Care in Hospice?
Continuous Care for terminally ill patients is one of four types of hospice care covered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit. This round-the-clock level of care is provided in the home for brief periods of time when the patient is experiencing a crisis. It is designed to honor a patient’s wish to remain at home by providing the care needed to control the patient’s symptoms and alleviate the crisis.
When is hospice continuous care appropriate?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations state: “Continuous home care may only be provided during a period of crisis as necessary to maintain an individual at home. A period of crisis is a period in which a patient requires continuous care that is predominantly nursing care to achieve palliation or management of acute medical symptoms.”
This type of care may be provided in the patient’s home or a long-term-care facility. It is not applicable for patients in an in-patient hospice unit, a hospital, or skilled nursing facility.
What types of symptoms require continuous care?
Hospice continuous care is designed to quickly alleviate uncontrolled symptoms in a time of crisis. These symptoms might include:
- Severe pain
- Bleeding
- Acute respiratory distress
- Unrelenting nausea and vomiting
- Terminal agitation or restlessness
If a hospice patient is actively declining, but their symptoms are under control, they do not qualify for continuous hospice care under the CMS regulations.
EvenMore Care: Honoring patient wishes.
We are committed to providing the right level of care at the right time. As the patient reaches their final hours, Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care activates its EvenMore Care program, providing round-the-clock care. This unique hospice care program was created because of a belief in two of Crossroads’ driving principles of end-of-life care:
- No one should die alone.
- No one should die in pain.
Once Evenmore Care begins, a member of the Crossroads team will remain bedside for as long as they are needed. Even when the patient’s symptoms are well-managed, Crossroads is there to provide support to the patient and their family in this final transition.
Please call at 1-888-564-3405 to learn more about the stages of hospice care and the support Crossroads provides.
Recommended Reading:
Extending the Promise of Hospice Care Even More
Approaching the Hospice Conversation: Best Practices for Physicians
Hospice is Care for the Whole Family
If you found this information helpful, please share it with your network and community.
Copyright © 2017 Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care. All rights reserved.
