The Medicare law that defines hospice care and coverage for hospice services mandates four basic levels of care by all hospice providers: routine home care, continuous care up to 24 hours (when medically necessary), inpatient hospice care and respite care for caregivers.

Some hospice providers go above and beyond the basic federal requirements, inspired by a commitment to care for all patients as they near the end of life, regardless of the complexity of their illness or diagnosis.

VITAS® Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care, offers numerous hospice and palliative care solutions and protocols that many other hospice providers do not. These are offered to high-risk patients whose underlying diseases and hospice diagnoses make their need for symptom management and pain relief all that more profound… and sometimes more challenging.

Non-curative modalities manage symptoms, ease pain, reduce end-of-life anxiety

None of these complex modalities are provided for curative purposes. Instead, they are offered solely to manage symptoms and address pain related to the underlying disease, previous treatments (e.g., lingering adverse effects of chemotherapy or radiation) or ongoing and often distressing symptoms.

For example, VITAS might offer radiation treatments to ease bone pain in a cancer patient who is no longer receiving active cancer treatment. Without impacting the course of a patient’s disease, high-flow oxygen therapy can ease anxiety in lung cancer patients who struggle to breathe near the end of life. These complex modalities can be provided at home, wherever the patient calls home: private residence, nursing home, assisted living facility, hospital or inpatient hospice unit.

Among the palliative, comfort-focused modalities that some VITAS programs offer:

• Intravenous therapies (pain management and PCA; inotrope therapy for advanced heart disease; hydration; antibiotics)
  Paracentesis and thoracentesis
• Chest tube/PleurX
• High-flow oxygen therapy
• Palliative blood transfusions
• BiPAP, CPAP and Trilogy non-invasive ventilation
• PEG-tube care and tube feedings
• Compassionate ventilator withdrawal at home
• Nephrostomy tube management
• Wound care
• Palliative total parenteral nutrition (TPN)
• Palliative dialysis
• Specialized durable medical equipment (DME)
• PT, OT and speech therapy
• Palliative oncologic therapies on an individual basis for pain relief and symptom management

As with all hospice care, an interdisciplinary hospice team develops an individualized plan of care, working closely with high-risk, high-acuity patients, their families and caregivers to identify and honor end-of-life preferences, and to support quality of life at the end of life.

End-of-life care can be challenging and difficult. When it’s time for hospice, VITAS is the expert in caring for high-acuity, complex patients. Call us for an evaluation at 888.VITAS.80 or refer your patients at VITAS.com for quality of life at the end of life.

Download our mobile app at VITASapp.com for VITAS locations, hospice eligibility guidelines or seamless, secure 24/7 referrals from a smartphone or tablet. ■