At any time during a life-limiting illness, it's appropriate to discuss all of the patient's care options, including hospice. By law the decision belongs to the patient. Understandably, most people are uncomfortable with the idea of stopping an all-out effort to recover from their disease. Hospice staff members are highly sensitive to these concerns and are always available to discuss them with the patient, family and physician. The patient and family should feel free to discuss hospice care at any time with their physician, other healthcare professionals, clergy or friends.
Most physicians know about hospice.
In addition, physicians and all others can obtain information on hospice from the American Cancer Society, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the Social Security Administration. If improvement in the condition occurs and the disease seems to be in remission, the patient can be discharged from hospice and return to aggressive curative therapy or go on about his or her daily life. If a discharged patient should later need to return to hospice care, Medicare and most private insurance companies will allow additional coverage for this purpose. One of the first things hospice will do is contact the patient's physician to make sure he or she agrees that hospice care is appropriate for this patient at this time. The patient will also be asked to sign consent and insurance forms.