Hospice

What is hospice care?

Hospice is comfort-focused care for a person with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less who chooses to stop curative treatment, delivered by a team of nurses, aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers wherever the person lives.

CMS lists 24 Medicare-certified home health agency offices and 9 hospice offices in the three counties, most of them in Allentown and Bethlehem; agencies serve clients well beyond their office address.

What does Medicare's hospice benefit cover?

Medicare covers hospice nursing and aide visits, medical equipment and supplies, medications for symptom control, social work and spiritual care, short inpatient stays for symptoms, and up to five days of respite at a time.

It does not pay room and board in a personal care home or nursing home, or round-the-clock caregivers outside crisis periods.

Can hospice come to a personal care home or nursing home?

Yes: hospice can serve residents of personal care homes, assisted living residences and nursing homes, working alongside the home's staff, and many Lehigh Valley residents receive hospice where they already live.

Ask the home which hospices it already works with, but the choice belongs to the resident and family.

How do we choose a hospice provider?

Ask how quickly a nurse responds at night, how often aides visit, whether the hospice has its own inpatient unit, and what bereavement support it offers families, and compare CMS's hospice quality data on Care Compare.

A hospital discharge planner or your doctor can make the referral; you can also call a hospice directly for an evaluation.

When should a Lehigh Valley family ask about hospice?

Ask about hospice when a doctor says a parent's life expectancy is likely six months or less, when hospital visits are becoming frequent for the same illness, or when treatment is causing more burden than benefit; an evaluation does not commit you to anything.

Many families say they wish they had asked sooner. Hospice support for the family, including bereavement care, continues after a death.

Can a hospice patient stay in their personal care home or nursing home room?

Yes: a resident who elects hospice usually stays where they live, with the hospice team visiting and the home's staff continuing daily care, and the room and board bill continues as before.

Ask the home whether it has worked with your chosen hospice before and how the two teams share care notes.

How many hospice providers are in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties?

Here is how the state and CMS records distribute hospice between the three counties; agencies have no bed count.