Hospice staff members are highly sensitive to these concerns and always available to discuss them with the patient and family. By law the decision belongs to the patient. If the patient's condition improves and the disease seems to be in remission, patients can be discharged from hospice and return to aggressive therapy or go on about their daily life. If the discharged patient should later need to return to hospice care, Medicare and most private insurance will allow additional coverage for this purpose. One of the first things the hospice program 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.
Most hospices have medical staff available to help patients who have no physician.
The patient will be asked to sign consent and insurance forms. These are similar to the forms patients sign when they enter a hospital. It also outlines the services available. In the early weeks of care, it's usually not necessary for someone to be with the patient all the time. Later, however, since one of the most common fears of patients is the fear of dying alone, hospice generally recommends someone be there continuously.