When a loved one is facing a terminal illness, hospice care can provide comfort and support during their final days. But when you’re selecting a hospice, it must provide the highest level of compassion and service. Every Medicare-certified hospice provider must provide four levels of hospice care, which are crucial for ensuring that patients receive the support they need. 

We’ll explore each of these four levels of hospice care, why they are important, and why the hospice you use should have them.

What Are the Four Levels of Hospice Care?

Hospice care is a specialized type of healthcare that focuses on improving the quality of life for patients with a terminal illness. The goal is to provide comfort and support to the patient and their family as they navigate through this difficult time.

These four levels of hospice care are routine home care, continuous home care, general inpatient care, and respite care. 

1. Routine Home Care

This is the most common level of hospice care, and it involves providing care to patients in their own homes. This level of care includes visits from a hospice nurse, social worker, chaplain, and other members of the hospice team. 

Routine home care aims to manage the patient’s symptoms and provide emotional support to the patient and their family.

2. Continuous Home Care

This level of care is provided when a patient’s symptoms require more intensive care. It involves providing around-the-clock care in the patient’s home, typically for a period of up to 24 hours. 

This level of care is designed to manage symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, and anxiety, and to provide support to both the patient and their family during this difficult time.

3. General Inpatient Care

This level of care is provided when a patient’s symptoms cannot be managed in their home, and they need to be admitted to a hospital or hospice facility. 

This level of care provides 24-hour skilled nursing care and is designed to manage symptoms and provide emotional support to both the patient and their family.

4. Respite Care

This level of care is provided to give the primary caregiver a break. It involves admitting the patient to a hospital or hospice facility for up to five days, during which time they will receive skilled nursing care. 

This level of care is designed to provide relief to the primary caregiver so that they can rest and recharge.

Why Are These Four Levels of Hospice Care Important?

Each of these four levels of care is important because they provide a different level of support and care to patients and their families. By offering these levels of care, hospice providers can ensure that patients receive the care they need, no matter what their symptoms may be. 

Additionally, these levels of care can help to ease the burden on family members who may be providing care to their loved ones.

What Qualifies You for Hospice?

To qualify for hospice care, patients must have a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. Patients must also agree to forgo curative treatment for their illness and instead focus on managing their symptoms and improving their quality of life. 

Anyone can refer a patient to hospice: a physician, family member, neighbor, or even the patient themselves. 

What to Look for in a Good Hospice

When choosing a hospice provider, there are several things to look for. 

First, you want to make sure that the hospice is Medicare-certified, which means that they meet certain quality standards. 

Second, you should also look for a hospice that offers all four levels of hospice care, so that you can be sure that your loved one will receive the care they need, no matter what their symptoms may be. 

Additionally, you want to choose a hospice that has a team of compassionate and experienced professionals who can provide emotional support to both the patient and their family.

At 3HC Home Health and Hospice Care, we not only offer these four levels of hospice care, but we are CHAP accredited. CHAP stands for Community Health Accreditation Partner, a designation earned by only the best providers.

In addition, we are also Medicare and Medicaid certified. Our dedicated team members treat your family as if they were members of our family. 

3HC Cares For Patients’ Families—Because We Consider You a Part of Our Own

One of the key ways in which we help patients’ families is by providing emotional support through grief care, resources, and other help to cope with the emotional stress of a loved one’s illness. We also offer education and guidance to help family members understand what to expect during the end-of-life process. It also gives them a closer look at how they can best support their loved ones.

We provide respite care, which we mentioned earlier. When family members care for a loved one, finding time for self-care and rest can be challenging. Respite care provides temporary relief to the primary caregiver. This allows them to rest and recharge, knowing that their loved one is being cared for by skilled professionals.

Finally, we offer grief care to family members after their loved one has passed away. This can include counseling services, support groups, and other resources to help family members cope with their grief and navigate the grieving process. 

We even provide a monthly newsletter to help our bereaved families. This helps them realize that they are not alone.

Grief care can continue for up to 13 months after the loved one’s death. This ensures that family members have the support they need during this difficult time.

3HC Has Been the Leading Medicare-Certified Hospice Provider For More Than 40 Years

From the Triangle area to the North Carolina coast, we offer extensive hospice and home care services throughout 24 North Carolina counties. This means that there is likely a 3HC location near you, ready to provide the resources and care you and your loved one need.

We provide: 

• Home healthcare 
• Hospice home care 
• Inpatient hospice care 
• After-hours care 
• Veterans care 
• Pediatric hospice care 

We care for you in the place you call home, treating you like family. In addition, we provide your loved ones with the support and resources they need. See why so many have trusted us with their care. Start here to find the right care for you or your loved one.