Pathway Health Supports the Daily Work of Personal Care
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month (often referred to as Home Care & Hospice Month). This year’s theme—Hospice. Helps. Everyone.—perfectly describes the goal of any great palliative program: To provide the best end-of-life support, according to the wishes (and care plan) of a patient and family dealing with a terminal illness.
The benefits of hospice can be seen by the soaring number of people who are selecting this option for comprehensive palliative treatment. According to a 2014 study by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:
- Hospices range in size from small agencies, with fewer than 50 patients per year, to large corporate chains that care for thousands of patients each day.
- An estimated 1.5 million patients in the U.S. choose services from hospice, with half of these patients receiving care for 14 days or less.
- More than 80 percent of hospice and home care patients rely on Medicare.
- Hospices care for more than half of all Americans who die from cancer, and a growing number of patients with other chronic, life-threatening illnesses, such as end-stage heart or lung disease, as well as HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease.
Awareness and Appreciation
From in-patient facilities to home care, the number of people served by hospice is quickly growing, which is helping to prove palliative care’s important role. Below are three ways to spread awareness about the hospice movement:
- Support the Hospice Action Network, the advocacy arm of NHPCO, which applies pressure in Washington, D.C., to create comprehensive legislation and regulation around end-of-life issues.
- Join the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) in thanking millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists, and social workers, who are part of the hospice and home care network.
- Allow Pathway Health’s insight, expertise and knowledge related to hospice care to have a real impact with you, as a post-acute care provider.
Pathway Health’s hospice consultants assist organizations with assessing, monitoring and improving clinical operations through education, performance improvement assessments, and recommendations on strategies to improve outcomes.
Do you understand the changing hospice regulations? Let Pathway Health be your guide.
Lisa Abicht-Swensen
Pathway Health
Director of Home Care and Hospice Services