Inpatient Hospice Care In Orinda City, California
When life expectancy is limited, inpatient hospice provides a warm and dignified environment dedicated to increasing quality of life.
Inpatient Hospice
Our team of professionals has received additional training to assist in determining when inpatient hospice care may be necessary.
While the majority of people with life-limiting illnesses prefer to receive hospice care in their own homes, there may come a time when uncontrolled pain or intractable symptoms make remaining at home impossible. Our Inpatient Hospice Program is a unique collaboration of Melodia Care and community members dedicated to providing highly skilled and compassionate care during these trying times.
Two Distinct Levels Of Care
There are two tiers of care to accommodate our patients’ highly personalized needs:
- Inpatient Care In General : We provide inpatient general care to patients who require intensive pain and symptom treatment. Our highly qualified staff provides extensive nursing, spiritual and supportive care tailored to the individual needs of each patient. At this level of care, the majority of insurance coverage includes room and board.
- Standard Care : Once a patient’s symptoms stabilize our staff will collaborate with the family to evaluate if the patient may return home or require nursing facility care. If a patient elects to remain in our Inpatient Care Center, he or she will be placed on a normal level of care and may be subject to private pay fees. The staff will work with you to organize a deposit and payment for these expenses. This level of care is also available in the comfort of your own home, skilled care facility, assisted living community or group home
When Care Requirements Are Difficult
When pain and symptoms are severe enough that they cannot be handled at home, inpatient care is the only option. Short-term inpatient care may be beneficial for individuals experiencing pain, shortness of breath, anxiety or other disturbing symptoms. Melodia Care can facilitate you.
Hospice House’s physicians and nurses are available 24 hours a day to respond immediately if a patient’s health changes. Our interdisciplinary team (IDT) approach provides patients and families with skilled medical care as well as emotional and spiritual support. Family members are relieved of caregiving stress, allowing them to focus on relationships and making the most of their time together.
Eligibility
Melodia Care has established extremely stringent standards for General Inpatient Care (GIP). Inpatient care may be necessary to manage pain or acute as well as persistent symptoms that cannot be managed in any other setting. It is undertaken when other methods of symptom management become inadequate. There is no specific sickness, ailment or symptom that qualifies as a GIP care qualification. Although it is supposed to be a brief intervention, there is no limit to the number of days or bouts of GIP care that a patient may get.
Our experts will assist you in evaluating and determining your patient’s eligibility for services. When you are ready to recommend a patient to Melodia Care, one of our care managers will visit the patient and family to assess the current state of health, discuss all available treatment choices and answer any questions. To get started, call us or read more about the referral process.
A Place That Feels Almost Like Home
Hospice House creates a sense of calm by providing comfortable rooms, quiet corners and natural surroundings that help patients and families to let go of the unease and anxiety associated with serious illness. Hospice House’s physicians, nurses, employees and volunteers provide an extraordinary blend of caring, compassion and competence. They elevate care to a whole new level.
Convenient Environments
Quiet areas and natural settings contribute to everyone’s sense of well-being. Among its characteristics are the following:
- Natural lighting is used extensively throughout the structure.
- Rooms for patients are spacious, with plenty of space for family.
- Outdoor views
- Family rooms for gatherings of loved ones
- Patios and porches
- Facilities for cooking and laundry
- Meditation and prayer area
When Is Hospice Care Provided In An Inpatient Facility?
The majority of hospice patients get care at home or in their place of residence–whether that is at home, in nursing homes, retirement communities or assisted living facilities. Patients can be admitted to one of inpatient centers, however, if more intensive medical care is required.
If pain or symptoms are unmanageable at home, inpatient care is recommended. Patients often receive inpatient care for a brief period and then return home once their pain and symptoms have subsided. Patients who do not have a caregiver at home may get care at an inpatient hospice center.
When Symptoms Are Uncontrollable At Home
Hospice care is typically provided in the patient’s home, as this is where the majority of very sick individuals prefer to be: in familiar settings with familiar routines and familiar faces.
Additionally, all hospices must provide inpatient care to assist with the assessment and management of acute, complex or uncontrollable symptoms such as pain or shortness of breath that cannot be managed at home or in other settings.
Where Can I Receive Inpatient Hospice Care?
Inpatient care is provided in a facility—typically a hospital but also nursing homes and free-standing hospice houses—that are capable of providing clinical care around the clock.
The mood in an inpatient hospice setting is quite unlike that of an acute-care institution. The inpatient hospice unit is more tranquil and comfortable. Staff personnel move at a leisurely pace, frequently pausing to speak with patients, interact with family members and answer questions. Day or night, family members and friends of all ages are welcome and overnight accommodations can be arranged.
However, make no mistake: intensive pain and symptom treatment is underway, with the objective of stabilizing the patient and allowing them to return home to receive routine hospice care.
The inpatient hospice care team have following responsibilities:
- Assesses symptoms
- Intensive symptom management
- Round-the-clock care and visits on a regular basis
- As a result, the team can typically manage and control the patient’s symptoms within a few days, allowing the patient to return home.
Hospice Inpatient Guidelines For Our Patients
When you recommend a patient to hospice care through Melodia Care, we assist you in determining the most appropriate care setting. Hospice care is typically delivered in the patient’s home or in a setting of the patient’s choice, such as a nursing home or assisted living complex. Patients occasionally require inpatient care.
When the Melodia Care hospice interdisciplinary team determines that a hospice patient’s symptoms and pain are no longer manageable or controllable at home, the patient may be transferred to a 24-hour inpatient hospice unit or care facility.
General inpatient (GIP) care is one of four levels of care required by Medicare in order for hospices to be certified to provide services. Melodia Care’s inpatient hospice facilities provide care in a home-like environment. Visitors are welcome at any time, according to safety standards and overnight stays can be arranged.
Once symptoms and suffering have stabilized during inpatient care, the patient can return to their preferred environment for hospice care.
Which Patients Qualify for Hospice Care On An Inpatient Basis?
Numerous symptoms that are difficult to control may signal that a patient is qualified for inpatient hospice care:
- Sudden decline necessitating intense nursing care
- Intractable pain
- Nausea and vomiting that are out of control
- Fractures that are pathological
- Respiratory discomfort that is uncontrollable
- Symptomatic alleviation by the use of intravenous medicines that necessitate close monitoring
- Complex and/or frequent dressing changes required for wound care that cannot be performed at the patient’s house
- Agitation that is uncontrollable; delirium; or very extreme anxiety
- Seizures that are uncontrolled
- Consult our disease-specific eligibility requirements for assistance in determining hospice eligibility.
When Are Hospice Patients Discharged?
Inpatient hospice care is designed to be transitory, allowing patients to return home as soon as possible to familiar surroundings, loved ones and a routine level of care. The following criteria indicate when a patient is prepared to be discharged from inpatient care:
- Symptoms have returned to normal
- The patient has been moved to a different level of care (i.e. continuous care)
- Medication that necessitates professional nursing care is no longer required
Who Covers The Cost Of Inpatient Hospice Care?
Medicare Part A pays the whole cost of hospice care associated with a hospice-eligible patient’s diagnosis with no deductible or copayment. Hospice is covered under original Medicare for those with Medicare Advantage. Patients covered by a commercial or employer-sponsored health plan should contact their insurer for information on hospice eligibility, coverage and out-of-pocket costs. State-by-state, Medicaid coverage for hospice care varies.
When care is required that is unrelated to a patient’s advanced illness, Medicare Parts A and B may cover expenses according to regular rules.
Do You Have Concerns About Inpatient Hospice?
When symptoms become unmanageable at home, Melodia Care’s inpatient hospice care provides 24-hour care in a warm and friendly setting. If your patient or resident with advanced disease is experiencing complicated symptoms and severe discomfort, contact Melodia Care to help them embrace quality of life near the end of life.
Compassionate End-of-life Care
Hospice care is a type of specialized healthcare provided to those who are terminally ill. A team of compassionate, loving healthcare specialists will build a complete plan of care for you and your loved one, providing comfort and emotional support. Along with regularly planned visits, hospice personnel are also available to assist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Your care team’s objective is to provide assistance that enables you or a loved one to live completely throughout the final stages of life.
Hospice care is available in any setting where you or a loved one resides, including skilled nursing or assisted living facilities. While the vast majority of people receive care at home, hospice care is provided in a hospital or other healthcare facility if symptoms necessitate interventions that are not practical in the home environment. Respite care, offered in an appropriate inpatient facility, is also available and can provide families and caregivers with time to rest and recharge.
Melodia Care Hospice experts will create an individualized care plan to fit your or your loved one’s unique needs. The following individuals manage the care plan:
- Personal physician — Plans and directs the patient’s care.
- Hospice medical director – Directs the hospice team and contributes to the evaluation and development of the patient’s care plan. The director may accept responsibility for patients who do not have a primary care physician.
- Registered nurse — Coordinates care, checks patient development on a regular basis, conducts medical assessments, offers treatment that includes symptom and pain management, and educates family members about patient care procedures. A hospice nurse is available to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Assists patients with bathing, clothing and other basic requirements.
- Social worker – Gives financial planning assistance to family members; coordinates community resources and provides social, emotional and bereavement support.
- Chaplain – Assists patients and caregivers with spiritual, emotional and bereavement support.
- Volunteers – Assist patients and caregivers by paying them visits and assisting with and completing mundane jobs or errands. Additionally, volunteers create videos to tell the patients’ stories, sew, knit and crochet gifts for patients and support staff.
- Pharmacist – Assists the medical team in managing the medications necessary to treat the patient’s pain and symptoms.
- Music therapist — Selects and performs music that promotes healing and wellness, taking into account the physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic and spiritual needs of patients.
- Massage therapist — Manipulates soft tissue and applies pressure to specific places on the body of a patient in order to alleviate discomfort.