Selected Podcast
What You Should Know about Hospice Care and Your Benefits
Lisa Gaucher Smith, RN, Admission Care Navigator with Family Home Health Network and Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW, Executive Hospice Director with Family Home Health Network, discuss all you need to know about Hospice care benefits for your loved one.
Featuring:
Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW, is Executive Hospice Director with Family Home Health Network.
Lisa Gaucher Smith, RN and Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW
Lisa Gaucher Smith, RN, is an Admission Care Navigator with Family Home Health Network.Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW, is Executive Hospice Director with Family Home Health Network.
Transcription:
Bill Klaproth (Host): This is the Alden Network Podcast. Healthcare solutions for seniors. Meet Lisa Gaucher Smith, a registered nurse and the Admission Care Navigator for hospice with Family Home Health Network and Patricia Moore, Executive Hospice Director with Family Home Health Network, the Alden Network’s preferred hospice provider. And in this podcast, we will be talking about what you should know about hospice care and your benefits. So, Lisa explain to us, what is hospice?
Lisa Gaucher Smith, RNP (Guest): Hospice is a philosophy for the end of life care when the patient is at that time in their life where we are not seeking aggressive treatment or maybe they just – they want to live their life comfortably however long they have left. We come in, we do symptom management, we bring a team in that takes care of the patient and the family. It’s a family concept; we take care of the entire family at the end of life.
Bill: And Patricia, adds more about their family-based approach.
Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW (Guest): It’s not a service that comes in and imposes a plan of care or a form of treatment. So, yes, we are involved. We could have conversations with family members before someone is really eligible or ready for hospice and help them consider that as a future option or at a time of more of a medical crisis; we can come in and explain to them well, for example, you have the option of going back to the hospital for this, this and this treatment, but if you have been to the hospital already and you really haven’t benefited that much from going; perhaps staying in the facility or staying in your home with us coming to you, bringing healthcare to you is a better choice.
Bill: So, who is all part of the hospice care team?
Lisa: The nurse who does the medical side, the certified nursing assistant who helps with the personal care, we have the social worker who helps with benefits, end of life paperwork so to speak, we have the spiritual counselor who comes in for support and any kind of spiritual needs that the patient has, we also have the bereavement coordinator who again follows up with the patient after the patient passes, follows up with the family. We do have the medical director who we work very closely with who oversees all of the medical necessities and then the primary doctor for if they want to be involved, we always involve them in the care.
Bill: And what else is included in hospice care?
Patricia: Hospice is available 24/7 and that’s a great reassurance to people who are worried about well what’s going to happen if my loved one has a problem at 3 a.m., hospice is a phone call away. We have a triage service and we also go out and do visits, so we are either solving concerns by phone or going there in person. We provide not only all those people and the personal care and relationship support, we also provide the durable medical equipment and by that, I mean a hospital bed, an overbed table, a walker, a wheelchair; whatever kind of equipment that patient needs to function at the highest level that they can function. We cover medications which are related to the comfort care of that individual. There’s a lot of tangible products and services as well as the emotional support.
Bill: And when you first receive a hospice care patient, how do you start working with that individual?
Lisa: We start off managing symptoms and I always tell the family that as symptoms come up, we would like to get in and manage them as early as possible. If something comes up early in our care; we can manage that as opposed to say down the road where they are in so much pain that we just – we can’t control it. So, we are symptom management and then we move into as they are progressing with their disease and getting towards the end of life; it turns into strict comfort care.
Bill: And what are some of the common myths perceived when it comes to hospice care?
Lisa: A lot of the myths that I run into when I’m talking to families about hospice care – one of the big ones is that we stop all of the medications on admission. And that’s not true. While we do take some of the unnecessary ones off, vitamins things like that; we do keep the ones that are necessary, you know cardiac medications, pain medications, we just – we don’t stop everything. We want this patient to be as comfortable and live a life for a long as they are here with us as bet they can be, so we adjust accordingly as we are going through the process, but we don’t just stop the medications right on admission. The other one that I have run into is that we just put the patient out, we sedate them and again, that’s absolutely not true because we are in there to manage symptoms. We are in there to make however long this patient has, the best it can possibly be. I want them to be with their family, alert, oriented as best they can be and as pain free as they can be for as long as they are here with us.
Bill: And can you talk about insurance and what is covered?
Patricia: In our country, Medicare has covered hospice expenses since 1982, Medicaid covers hospice, private insurance covers hospice. It’s an amazing, unknown truth that there are no out of pocket expenses for hospice care.
Lisa: The other piece that is covered is the medical equipment such as a hospital bed, overbed table, wheelchairs anything to keep this patient as independent as possible for as long as possible. The other piece that is covered are medications. Medications that include our comfort pack that we use and also medications that are related to whatever the diagnosis is.
Bill: And how do you work with the insurance company on behalf of the family at a very difficult time?
Patricia: The hospice office is working with whichever insurance company be that Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, the Veterans Administration and getting everything all set up so that we submit the bills to the insurance company, the insurance company pays for hospice and the family and the patient don’t have to worry about a thing.
Bill: And can you talk a little bit more about the bereavement services the Alden Network provides?
Lisa: Death is a very hard thing to deal with in life and a lot of families just need that extra help on top of what the team is giving them. So, they may reach out early, even before the passing, but after the passing; we kind of give them about a month and then we reach out to them to just check in on them. Can we do anything? Can we – do we need to send somebody out just to talk, just to kind of move through the grief process? That happens for about thirteen months. We do have grief support groups. We do meet, they are in actually in the Alden’s. support groups that we invite the community to come whether we have had that patient on or not, we open it up to the community just as a support and help them work through, but we do follow up for about a year to make sure they are doing well because if you have had a loved one pass, that first year is the hardest because it’s a year of what we call firsts. First birthday without that patient. First Christmas without that – it’s very hard, so we like to keep track and make sure they are doing well.
Bill: And why should someone choose Family Home Health Network for their hospice care needs?
Patricia: We're there, we are available, we work closely with the employees of the nursing homes, coordinating that care, making sure that all of the needs that their loved one has, are met in a timely fashion, in a coordinated fashion. We are all on the same page, all with the same goal and that’s to take the best care possible of their loved one.
Bill: And lastly, Patricia and Lisa share their final thoughts on hospice care.
Patricia: Often when people hear the word hospice, the kind of want to turn around and walk the other way because hospice is provided when people are dying and most people don’t like to confront the fact that they are dying even though we all will die. No one has gotten out alive yet. Most of the people that we serve come back with heartfelt gratitude and thanks that they don’t know how they could have gotten through this time in their lives without our support and in fact, they wish that they had heard about hospice sooner and could have relied on us for a longer period of time.
Lisa: As a nurse in the field, I firmly believe that hospice is a gift at the end of life. I have gone through it with my mother. I have been there for many, many patients down the road and it’s just, it’s a gift at the end of life for someone and their family because the worries are not there. We are the team that comes in and take the worries away from the patient, allows them to spend the time they need with their loved one for as long a time as they are there and then we take care of the details, so that they are not worrying about it. So, that’s a privilege to me to be there to help these families make the transition.
Bill: We’d like to thank Lisa Gaucher Smith and Patricia Moore for their time. For more information on hospice care please visit www.thealdennetwork.com that’s www.thealdennetework.com. This is The Alden Network Podcast Healthcare Solutions for Seniors. Thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth (Host): This is the Alden Network Podcast. Healthcare solutions for seniors. Meet Lisa Gaucher Smith, a registered nurse and the Admission Care Navigator for hospice with Family Home Health Network and Patricia Moore, Executive Hospice Director with Family Home Health Network, the Alden Network’s preferred hospice provider. And in this podcast, we will be talking about what you should know about hospice care and your benefits. So, Lisa explain to us, what is hospice?
Lisa Gaucher Smith, RNP (Guest): Hospice is a philosophy for the end of life care when the patient is at that time in their life where we are not seeking aggressive treatment or maybe they just – they want to live their life comfortably however long they have left. We come in, we do symptom management, we bring a team in that takes care of the patient and the family. It’s a family concept; we take care of the entire family at the end of life.
Bill: And Patricia, adds more about their family-based approach.
Patricia Moore, MSW, LCSW (Guest): It’s not a service that comes in and imposes a plan of care or a form of treatment. So, yes, we are involved. We could have conversations with family members before someone is really eligible or ready for hospice and help them consider that as a future option or at a time of more of a medical crisis; we can come in and explain to them well, for example, you have the option of going back to the hospital for this, this and this treatment, but if you have been to the hospital already and you really haven’t benefited that much from going; perhaps staying in the facility or staying in your home with us coming to you, bringing healthcare to you is a better choice.
Bill: So, who is all part of the hospice care team?
Lisa: The nurse who does the medical side, the certified nursing assistant who helps with the personal care, we have the social worker who helps with benefits, end of life paperwork so to speak, we have the spiritual counselor who comes in for support and any kind of spiritual needs that the patient has, we also have the bereavement coordinator who again follows up with the patient after the patient passes, follows up with the family. We do have the medical director who we work very closely with who oversees all of the medical necessities and then the primary doctor for if they want to be involved, we always involve them in the care.
Bill: And what else is included in hospice care?
Patricia: Hospice is available 24/7 and that’s a great reassurance to people who are worried about well what’s going to happen if my loved one has a problem at 3 a.m., hospice is a phone call away. We have a triage service and we also go out and do visits, so we are either solving concerns by phone or going there in person. We provide not only all those people and the personal care and relationship support, we also provide the durable medical equipment and by that, I mean a hospital bed, an overbed table, a walker, a wheelchair; whatever kind of equipment that patient needs to function at the highest level that they can function. We cover medications which are related to the comfort care of that individual. There’s a lot of tangible products and services as well as the emotional support.
Bill: And when you first receive a hospice care patient, how do you start working with that individual?
Lisa: We start off managing symptoms and I always tell the family that as symptoms come up, we would like to get in and manage them as early as possible. If something comes up early in our care; we can manage that as opposed to say down the road where they are in so much pain that we just – we can’t control it. So, we are symptom management and then we move into as they are progressing with their disease and getting towards the end of life; it turns into strict comfort care.
Bill: And what are some of the common myths perceived when it comes to hospice care?
Lisa: A lot of the myths that I run into when I’m talking to families about hospice care – one of the big ones is that we stop all of the medications on admission. And that’s not true. While we do take some of the unnecessary ones off, vitamins things like that; we do keep the ones that are necessary, you know cardiac medications, pain medications, we just – we don’t stop everything. We want this patient to be as comfortable and live a life for a long as they are here with us as bet they can be, so we adjust accordingly as we are going through the process, but we don’t just stop the medications right on admission. The other one that I have run into is that we just put the patient out, we sedate them and again, that’s absolutely not true because we are in there to manage symptoms. We are in there to make however long this patient has, the best it can possibly be. I want them to be with their family, alert, oriented as best they can be and as pain free as they can be for as long as they are here with us.
Bill: And can you talk about insurance and what is covered?
Patricia: In our country, Medicare has covered hospice expenses since 1982, Medicaid covers hospice, private insurance covers hospice. It’s an amazing, unknown truth that there are no out of pocket expenses for hospice care.
Lisa: The other piece that is covered is the medical equipment such as a hospital bed, overbed table, wheelchairs anything to keep this patient as independent as possible for as long as possible. The other piece that is covered are medications. Medications that include our comfort pack that we use and also medications that are related to whatever the diagnosis is.
Bill: And how do you work with the insurance company on behalf of the family at a very difficult time?
Patricia: The hospice office is working with whichever insurance company be that Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, the Veterans Administration and getting everything all set up so that we submit the bills to the insurance company, the insurance company pays for hospice and the family and the patient don’t have to worry about a thing.
Bill: And can you talk a little bit more about the bereavement services the Alden Network provides?
Lisa: Death is a very hard thing to deal with in life and a lot of families just need that extra help on top of what the team is giving them. So, they may reach out early, even before the passing, but after the passing; we kind of give them about a month and then we reach out to them to just check in on them. Can we do anything? Can we – do we need to send somebody out just to talk, just to kind of move through the grief process? That happens for about thirteen months. We do have grief support groups. We do meet, they are in actually in the Alden’s. support groups that we invite the community to come whether we have had that patient on or not, we open it up to the community just as a support and help them work through, but we do follow up for about a year to make sure they are doing well because if you have had a loved one pass, that first year is the hardest because it’s a year of what we call firsts. First birthday without that patient. First Christmas without that – it’s very hard, so we like to keep track and make sure they are doing well.
Bill: And why should someone choose Family Home Health Network for their hospice care needs?
Patricia: We're there, we are available, we work closely with the employees of the nursing homes, coordinating that care, making sure that all of the needs that their loved one has, are met in a timely fashion, in a coordinated fashion. We are all on the same page, all with the same goal and that’s to take the best care possible of their loved one.
Bill: And lastly, Patricia and Lisa share their final thoughts on hospice care.
Patricia: Often when people hear the word hospice, the kind of want to turn around and walk the other way because hospice is provided when people are dying and most people don’t like to confront the fact that they are dying even though we all will die. No one has gotten out alive yet. Most of the people that we serve come back with heartfelt gratitude and thanks that they don’t know how they could have gotten through this time in their lives without our support and in fact, they wish that they had heard about hospice sooner and could have relied on us for a longer period of time.
Lisa: As a nurse in the field, I firmly believe that hospice is a gift at the end of life. I have gone through it with my mother. I have been there for many, many patients down the road and it’s just, it’s a gift at the end of life for someone and their family because the worries are not there. We are the team that comes in and take the worries away from the patient, allows them to spend the time they need with their loved one for as long a time as they are there and then we take care of the details, so that they are not worrying about it. So, that’s a privilege to me to be there to help these families make the transition.
Bill: We’d like to thank Lisa Gaucher Smith and Patricia Moore for their time. For more information on hospice care please visit www.thealdennetwork.com that’s www.thealdennetework.com. This is The Alden Network Podcast Healthcare Solutions for Seniors. Thanks for listening.