Bonita Springs Healthcare Services
Hospice Care
Hospice care is compassionate care that is designed to surround families with love and support at one of life’s most challenging times. Hospice includes a range of services to address the unique physical, emotional, and spiritual care each person needs.
Watch this video to learn more about our Hospice Care services
Accepting hospice care doesn’t mean that you are giving up.
Hospice actually promotes dignity, relieves pain and provides support for the patient and their family. Through regular visits from their care team, hospice patients regain control and a sense of relief which can improve their quality of life.
Services
What is Hospice?
When a patient has a life-limiting illness or disease, specialized care is necessary to help maintain comfort and quality of life.
A physician may recommend hospice services when a patient no longer seeks curative treatment, and have a life expectancy of six months or less if a disease or illness runs its natural course. Hospice brings hope to help people live life as fully as possible, offers dignity when there is not a cure, and provides supportive care to both the patient and the family.
Services may include:
Training & education for the patient’s primary caregiver
Pain control & symptom management
Durable medical equipment & supplies
Palliative therapies & treatments
Medication
Counseling & grief support
Visits from a hospice physician, nurse, medical social worker, hospice aide, chaplain or volunteer
Palliative Care vs. Hospice Care
The purpose of both palliative and hospice care is symptom and pain relief, but the goals are a little different for these services. When a patient is receiving hospice care, the treatments are focused on comfort without curative intent. On the other hand, palliative care is available with or without curative therapies.
Anyone with a serious illness who is over the age of 21 that meets the home health homebound criteria is eligible for palliative care with Bonita Springs Healthcare.
One other notable difference is that palliative services are offered at any stage of disease, while hospice care is only available in the final stages of life. If a person doesn’t have a prognosis of 6 months or less, then palliative care is the recommendation.
Benefits for Me
Why Hospice Services?
Is hospice care right for you? Here are a few benefits you can expect from hospice services:
Location
Hospice services are available in any place to match the patient’s preferences. The patient can receive their care in-home, a residential care facility, a skilled nursing home, or a hospital.
Comfort
Focus on the quality of your life by working with a team of experts to manage symptoms and ease the pain.
All-Inclusive
When you qualify for hospice services, you receive everything necessary for your care and treatment during this time. This full scope of services includes medical equipment, prescriptions, supplies, and on-site visits from healthcare providers.
Dignity
Individuals facing a serious illness often have less control as the illness progresses. Hospice caregivers work to preserve and maintain their dignity by focusing on the patient’s comfort and quality of life.
Hospice Eligibility
Knowing when to consider hospice can be overwhelming, but early care can offer the gift of time and quality of life. If you or your loved one have been diagnosed with a life-limiting disease or condition with a prognosis of six months or less, you are eligible to receive hospice care.
In many cases, patients have not been given a six month or less prognosis by their physician, but begin to experience changes in their condition and show signs of decline. An in-person hospice evaluation to review recent medical history and change of condition can help determine if a patient is, or will soon be, eligible to receive hospice care.
The following signs alone do not guarantee hospice eligibility, but are common indicators that a hospice evaluation is appropriate:
Unintentional weight loss/gain
Change in sleeping patterns; excessive sleeping throughout the day
Multiple hospitalizations, ER or Urgent Care visits in the past 4-6 months
Increased weakness
Inability to perform daily activities/routines without increased assistance
Increased need for pain medication
Wounds that won’t heal
Curative treatments are no longer working
Bonita Springs has dedicated clinical staff on call 24 hours a day to answer questions and provide assistance. We provide services, based on the patient and their medical needs, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Anyone can make a referral, including patients, physicians, or family members. There is no obligation and no charge to receive a hospice evaluation, or even just an informational home visit, from one of our hospice professionals.
How do I Pay for Hospice Care?
Rest assured, knowing that you can receive top-notch care without worrying about the financial impact on the family. When you qualify for hospice care, up to 100% of these services may be covered through providers, such as:
- Medicare
- Medi-Cal
- VA
- Private Insurance
Talk to your insurance provider directly for more information about available coverage. In most situations, the hospice benefit may help to reduce the financial burden on the family by helping to cover visits from healthcare professionals, medication, supplies, and equipment.
Quality Hospice Care from a Full-Service Team
At Bonita Springs Healthcare Services, we provide full-service support for physical, emotional, and spiritual care. These services are available for the patient, as well as family members offering support during this time.
Our team includes a range of specialists and providers who can help each patient’s unique needs: medical doctors, registered nurses, social workers, chaplains, hospice aides, volunteers, and more.
For more information about hospice care, contact our Bonita Springs Healthcare Services team to learn how we can help.
How to Get Started?
If you have received a hospice referral from a doctor, then it’s time to talk to a hospice provider about your options.
If you haven’t been certified through a medical provider, you can still reach out to speak with our team.
Getting started means you are ready to receive information about available services. However, beginning this process doesn’t mean that you are committed to staying on a hospice plan forever. Patients can opt out of hospice care at any time, for any reason. Then, the option is available to return to hospice again if you are still eligible for these benefits.
Get Started
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