Hospice requirements?

webblarsk · Nov 27, 2004

Hi All...wondering what your criteria for an admission is? Of course it must have a docs order certifying the pt has 6 months or less, but what about having a 24 hour caregiver????? Our agency will not admit a pt unless there is someone that can care for the pt all of the time. Is that specifically a medicare requirement? Apparently other hospices in our area do accept pts that are living alone with family 1.5 hrs away etc ...thanks Janie

We accept patients that live at home as long as we feel that they can safely be at home. We do have a form that they sign upon admission about where they would go if it was determined they could no longer be at home safely. It seems to work really well and we haven't seemed to have any problems with it.

aimeee, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2004

We do have a form that they sign upon admission about where they would go if it was determined they could no longer be at home safely. It seems to work really well and we haven't seemed to have any problems with it.

That's a good idea. We often get patients who are living alone. These are challenges for the social workers and the whole team because they have to be working on a plan for "what if" from the beginning. Clear guidelines for when constitutes "unsafe" to be alone are also helpful.

aleciarnc · Dec 5, 2004

As a hospice nurse, I've had many patient's who do not have a 24 hr/day caregiver. This may be a requirement of "some" hospice organizations.

CardioTrans, BSN, RN · Dec 5, 2004

My agency does both home care and hospice. Medicare guidelines state that there has to be an available caregiver, but not necessarily in the home 24/7.