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Inpatient Hospice Care Illinois |Oasis Hospice & Palliative Care
Inpatient care is administered in a facility—typically a hospital, but also nursing homes and free-standing hospice houses—that can provide clinical care around the clock.
An inpatient hospice institution has a very different ambiance than an acute-care center. The inpatient hospice unit is more tranquil and homelike. Staff personnel moves at a leisurely pace, frequently stopping to interact with patients, meet with families, and answer questions.
Day and night, family members and friends of all ages are welcome, and overnight visits can be arranged.
But make no mistake: Intensive pain and symptom management are underway, to stabilize the patient and allow them to return home to usual hospice care.
The inpatient hospice care team consists of the following individuals:
- Examines symptoms
- It offers thorough symptom management.
- Maintains 24-hour care and regular visits.
As a result, the team is usually able to manage and control the patient’s symptoms in a relatively short period, usually within a few days, and the patient can return home.
Illinois Nursing Homes & Hospital Hospice Care Facilities & Services
Certain hospice-eligible patients who have previously been admitted to a hospital or nursing home for acute care are unable to be safely transferred to home or inpatient care. In these circumstances, Oasis collaborates with the patient’s institution and attending staff to plan comfort-focused care, control symptoms, and facilitate smooth transitions to the patient’s preferred environment.
Oasis Hospice has more than 2 palliative care facilities for you to visit and our care team assists staff in providing intensive care for patients with difficult-to-manage symptoms, freeing personnel from other activities at a hospital or skilled nursing facility. Oasis can also provide clinical guidance and education on end-of-life care, as well as drug management help to facility employees.
When members of our interdisciplinary team are unable to enter a facility due to safety concerns, Oasis uses telehealth capabilities to complete innovative hospice care assessments, discuss goals of care, and provide several integrative services.
Oasis Inpatient Care: One of 4 Levels
Whatever the circumstances, one of the obligatory levels of hospice care is 24-hour inpatient care, which is offered when symptoms cannot be controlled according to Medicare requirements. Some patients may require inpatient care to move from hospitalization curative care to home hospice. Others receiving routine home care may experience symptoms that worsen.
In either situation, the patient often receives inpatient treatment for a brief amount of time (3-5 days) until symptoms are under control, after which the patient goes home to the ordinary level of hospice care.
According to the Medicare hospice benefit, Oasis provides four broad types of treatment or degrees of care:
- Routine home care: Most care is given in the home, whether it is a private residence/home, a nursing home, or an assisted living complex. Oasis personnel comes frequently, and Oasis provides all medical equipment, supplies, and prescriptions related to your diagnosis.
- Continuous In-home Care: When your symptoms cannot be treated on a usual level of care, Oasis can provide intensive symptom management at the site where you are already receiving care until your symptoms are controlled per Medicare guidelines. Nurses and aides provide continuous care for up to 24 hours in your preferred setting of care, allowing you to stay as long as care can be provided safely and effectively.
- General inpatient care: If your symptoms or pain cannot be managed at home and you do not want to receive Intensive comfort care at home, the Oasis Hospice Care facility can provide a higher level of specialized care in an inpatient setting until those symptoms are controlled according to Medicare guidelines. General inpatient care can be delivered in several settings, including an Oasis inpatient hospice unit or a partnered inpatient care environment, such as a hospital or nursing home.
- Respite care: If necessary, Oasis Hospice nurses and doctors will care for you in an inpatient setting for up to five consecutive days to provide your caregiver or family member with much-needed “respite” or break.
What Symptoms Require Inpatient Hospice Care
The necessity for inpatient hospice care may be indicated by:
- Rapid decline necessitating urgent nursing care.
- Unmanageable agony.
- Nausea and vomiting without control
- Fractures of a pathological nature
- Uncontrollable difficulty breathing
- Relieving symptoms with injectable drugs that require close observation.
- Wound treatment that requires sophisticated and/or frequent dressing changes that cannot be administered at home.
- Uncontrollable agitation or restlessness requiring urgent treatment.
- Uncontrolled convulsions
- Assist the patient’s comfort with minor treatments, such as draining fluid from the abdomen (paracentesis) or installing a permanent drain or tube.
Who Pays For Inpatient End-Of-Life Care?
If you or a loved one are enrolled in Medicare, you’re likely aware that it covers a variety of medical services. One of these medical services is hospice care coverage, including hospice inpatient care.
Does Medicare Cover This?
The Medicare Hospice Benefit is a comprehensive benefit that pays for all hospice services in the hospice plan of care, including a team of professionals — physicians, nurses, social workers/bereavement counselors, spiritual support counselors, and certified home health aides — as well as medication, equipment, supplies, and inpatient care, if necessary. Please note that you may be required to make a modest copayment.
Also covered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit are the four levels of hospice treatment, one of which is inpatient hospice. Medicare will cover hospice treatment for inpatients who have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) or Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans) and who meet the following criteria:
- Your primary care physician and the hospice medical director certify that your life expectancy is fewer than six months.
- You choose hospice care over curative treatment for your terminal condition.
- You sign a statement indicating your preference for hospice care over other Medicare-covered treatments for your terminal disease and accompanying conditions.
Hospice is a type of comfort care that is used to alleviate the worry, discomfort, and other symptoms of a terminal illness. It is about assisting patients and their families in living as well as they can in the face of a reduced life expectancy.
How Long Does Medicare Cover Inpatient Hospice?
As long as you or your loved one are experiencing severe pain and symptoms related to the hospice diagnosis, Medicare will cover inpatient hospice care. Inpatient hospice care aims to alleviate these symptoms so that you or your loved one can return to the comfort of your home. You can qualify for aid through government or private efforts. Contact your state’s developmental disabilities agency or your local aging service to learn more about what’s offered. Caregiver groups and nonprofits that specialize in various conditions, such as the Alzheimer’s Association, also provide resources.
Hospice and Palliative Care Services Medicare Covers
The Medicare Hospice Benefit provides full coverage for your or your loved one’s inpatient hospice care, including:
- Meds
- Supplies
- Equipment
- A physician, nurse, social worker, spiritual support counselor, trained home health aide, and volunteer make visits as part of a team of professionals.
In the state of Illinois, all hospice nurses must be approved for nursing. Oasis nurses include several trained hospice and palliative care nurses (CHPN).
Hospice Services in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities
Hospice care is available wherever a patient resides. Nursing homes provide around 35% of all hospice care in the United States (nursing homes). Another 10% of hospice care is projected to be given in assisted living facilities.
- On any given day, 1.6 million Americans reside in a nursing home.
- Almost one in every two people who live into their 80s will spend time in a nursing home before dying.
- Shorter hospital stays and higher use of nursing homes have come from federal policies.
- In 2001, 49.2% of Americans died in an acute care hospital, while 23.2 percent died in a nursing home.
- It is anticipated that by 2020, 40% of Americans would die in a nursing home.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your options, please contact our Oasis Hospice office at 708-564-4838 or our website and get the standard hospice care we offer. You can also visit the Vitas inpatient hospice website for the hospice and general inpatient care as well as health information. Hospice is not about giving up; rather, it is about living your best life in the time you have left.
Cost in Original Medicare
- Hospice treatment is free of charge.
- For outpatient pain and symptom relief medications and information, you pay a copayment of up to $5 per prescription. If your medication isn’t covered by the hospice benefit, your hospice provider can check your plan information to see if Part D covers it.
- For inpatient respite treatment, you can pay up to 5% of the Medicare-approved amount.
Medicare doesn’t cover room and board when you get hospice care in your home or another facility where you live (like a nursing home).
Medicare Hospice Care Information
Your hospice doctor and normal doctor (if you have one) will certify that you have 6 months or less to live. You can keep obtaining hospice care after 6 months if the medical director or doctor confirms you’re still terminally ill. Hospice care is usually given in the patient’s or family’s home, but it can also be given in a clinic. Original Medicare will cover all non-terminal health concerns, however, this is unlikely. When you choose hospice care, you no longer want treatment for your terminal illness or your doctor says it’s ineffective. Once you choose hospice, the benefit will fulfill your needs.
Medicare won’t cover any of these once your hospice benefit starts:
- Treatment intended to alleviate the symptoms of your terminal illness. Ask your doctor first if you’re considering using medication to treat your illness. As a hospice patient, you have the right to stop receiving care at any time.
- Any healthcare provider outside the hospice’s official provider list. You are entitled to hospice care from the hospice provider of your choice. All care for your terminal illness must be provided by or planned by the hospice staff. Unless you move to hospices, you won’t receive the same quality care. Your primary care physician or nurse practitioner can continue to be involved in your hospice care as the attending medical provider if that is who you prefer.
- Meals and lodging are free. Medicare does not pay for a patient’s room and board if they are receiving hospice care at home, regardless of whether they are residing in a nursing home or a hospice inpatient hospital. If the hospice team determines that you need short-term inpatient or respite care services, Medicare will fund your hospital stay.
- For the respite stay, you will be required to pay a small copayment.
Whether it’s planned by the hospice team or is unrelated to your terminal disease and associated conditions, don’t receive care as a hospital visitor (like in an emergency room), hospital inpatient, or ambulance transportation.
Contact your local emergency hospice care nursing facility team before you get any of these services for expert information or you might have to pay the entire cost. Also, see if you qualify for Medicaid or Medicare now!
