Resources
Hospice vs. Palliative Care
Hospice Care
The goal is to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life during terminal illness. When curative
treatments are no longer working and/or a patient no longer desires to continue with them, hospice typically
becomes the care of choice. You can learn more about hospice care and the benefits it offers by reading
CaringInfo's explanation of hospice care.
Alternatively, if you have access to Medicare, you can reference
Medicare's article explaining hospice care, in addition to their page outlining
services covered for Medicare Part A.
For individuals covered by Medicaid, you can additionally reference
Medicaid's page explaining hospice benefits.
Palliative Care
This care can be provided at any time during the course of an illness and in conjunction with curative, aggressive treatments and skilled nursing care. For further information on this topic, visit CaringInfo's article explaining palliative care. There, you can learn the services that palliative care provides in addition to information about which insurers will cover its benefits.
Additional Information
If you would like to learn more about hospice and palliative care in Arizona, please refer to:
- Arizona Hospice & Palliative Care Organization
- National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Hospice Coverage
For general information related to health services in Arizona, please refer to:
Eligibility
Understanding whether hospice is right for you.
Part of hospice care is first determining whether or not it is the right option for the patient. Eligibility
starts with a patient's attending physician or specialist who sends a referral order for the patient to
hospice care.
The hospice medical director determines if the patient has six months or less to live (if the illness runs
its normal course) and approves the referral based on their evaluation of the patient's condition.
Finally, the patient/caregiver signs a statement choosing hospice instead of other Medicare covered benefits
that treat the illness.
To learn more about how we assess patients for hospice eligibility, you can read our eligibility page
and optionally take our eligibility assessment.
Advocate Hospice Service Area
Maricopa County and Western Pinal
FAQs
Under hospice care, what happens if a patient lives longer than 6 months?
If the patient continues to meet the hospice criteria, then the patient will continue to receive hospice services.
What happens if the patient's condition improves?
If the patient's condition improves to the point where hospice services are no longer needed, then the patient will be discharged from services.
What happens in an emergency?
Advocate Hospice has on-call nurses 24/7.
When is a decision made to come on hospice? And who should make it?
At any time during a life-limiting illness, it is appropriate to discuss all of the patient's care options. By law, the decision belongs to the patient. If they are unable, then it is up to the power of the attorney.
Does hospice do anything to make death come sooner?
Hospice neither hastens nor postpones dying.