• Do you have a cardiac patient who has stopped responding to surgical or medical therapy
• Do they need repeated hospitalization for respiratory distress, rapid fatigue, edema or other related symptoms?
• Are they experiencing functional decline that can no longer be managed by their family?
When curative treatments no longer work and your cardiac patient experiences debilitating symptoms even at rest, hospice addresses physical, emotional and spiritual pain.
More than 6 million Americans live with heart failure. While many of them are able to manage their symptoms with medication, surgical procedures and heart-healthy habits, in other cases patients and their families need more support and additional resources. However, given the unpredictable trajectory of advanced cardiac disease, too many heart disease patients who could benefit from hospice services never receive them.
How can hospice help?
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology, researchers found that early discussion of end-of-life care—symptom management, hospice services, advance directives and advance care planning—was not only cost-effective (with reduced utilization of non-beneficial medical care at the end of life), but resulted in better quality of life and positive family outcomes.
Start the conversation with your patients early, long before hospice is an option. Download the VITAS app to familiarize yourself with hospice eligibility guidelines, or call VITAS at 866-759-6695.
When you think your patient is hospice appropriate, an admissions professional will visit the patient to evaluate them, meet with the family and develop a plan of care in collaboration with the patient’s cardiologist or other physician.
Teamwork, communication are key
At VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care, a team manager ensures that all relevant information flows between physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers and, at the patient’s request, clergy. Patients receive the comprehensive care they deserve, which includes:
• Regular assessment by the hospice team to prevent crises before they occur
• Cardiac and other symptom management medications, covered and delivered directly to the patient’s home, including IV therapies, if clinically indicated.
• Oxygen, if needed, regardless of pulse oximetry testing, as well as durable home medical equipment and other supplies
• Access to Telecare® 24/7/365. Skilled clinicians respond to calls or dispatch team members to the home, preventing ED visits, after-hour calls to the physician’s office, recurrent hospitalizations, etc.
• Continuous care in the home and inpatient care in a facility when medically necessary.
• Psycho-social support
Hospice services are provided to patients wherever they call home—private residences, nursing homes, long-term care facilities or assisted living communities.
Additionally, the patient’s family is supported with caregiver education and training, emotional and spiritual assistance, respite care, and bereavement services for more than a year following the death.
For advanced cardiac patients near the end of life, hospice services mean reduced hospitalization, and better pain and symptom management. They spend their remaining months, weeks or days focusing less on their disease and more on their family and final wishes.
