Hospice care is comfort care that is brought to each patient, whether in a private home, nursing home, residential community, home care for the elderly, or nursing home.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has defined four types or “levels” of hospital care. A single patient can experience all four levels, perhaps in as little as a week or ten days of hospital stay. Another patient may receive one level of care for several months during their hospice care. Each level of care meets specific needs, and each hospice patient is unique.
What are the four levels of hospital care?
Every Medicare-certified hospice provider must offer the following four levels:
- Hospice care at home
- Continuing hospice care
- Hospital treatment
- Temporary care
- Hospice care at home
Home hospice care is the most common form of hospice care. VITAS supports patients and families who choose hospice care at home, regardless of where the home is located. Regular visits from the home care team ensure comfort and dignity. Diagnostic specific equipment, accessories and medicines are supplied free of charge. - Continuing hospice care
Hospice providers must provide continuous hospice care when medically necessary. At VITAS, we call it Intensive Comfort Care®: 24/7 patient care to manage patients’ acute symptoms and prevent hospitalization until routine services can resume. - Hospital treatment
If the symptoms cannot be treated at home, VITAS offers medical care 24/7 until the patient can return home. Our comfortable inpatient facilities offer acute care support with comfortable amenities. - Temporary care
During respite care, patients spend a short time in a Medicare-certified hospital setting so their primary caregivers can rest. Temporary hospice support helps caregivers avoid burnout and provide care more effectively.