Case Study Hospice

Hospice is a service that was created to provide the patient comfort, dignity and help reduce the suffering that the patient and his family is enduring. Since hospice is a medical based service, many medical professionals, doctors, nurses, therapists, aides as well as case workers are employed to provide the best care possible at the end of someone’s life. Since the terminally ill are provided medical services, there are certain rules and regulations they must follow according to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies. A challenge comes when you are trying to accommodate the needs of the dying with respect and dignity and at the same time comply with the rules created by the government and insurance companies. Hospice started out in Ireland …show more content…
On one hand, some patients feel that they want to go home and die in a place that they feel comfort and love and be surrounded by their families in their own environment. Then you have the patients that feel secure staying in a hospital where professionals, i.e. doctors and nurses, will be with them around the clock which makes the patient feel more secure in receiving the care they need during this period of their life. Although the patient’s and their families feelings are the main consideration in the decision where they will be cared for, there are the rules and regulations set forth by Medicare and insurance companies on how these patients will live out their final days. A person might want to die in a hospital but they have to meet certain criteria in order for the insurance companies to allow them to stay there. The same goes for someone who wishes to die at home. To receive the service from hospice, their homes have to meet certain criteria as well. If the patients’ home doesn’t have the means to provide the type of care they need at home, then there are palliative care units that they can go to but there are restriction on how long they can stay. Eventually the patient will end up in a long-term facility where a patient never wanted to be, especially the final days of his