We are committed in providing quality care for you or your loved one or someone you know with the comfort they need. It may be difficult to adjust from seeking active treatment to choosing comfort for your loved ones, but patients that enroll in hospice services live longer and happier due to better symptom control and pain management. We will work with you to form a comprehensive plan of care to manage your loved ones from their symptoms and address their needs.
You will have a team of physicians, registered nurses, aides, social workers, counselors, and more with a combined experience of over a decade of hospice know-how available to help you and your family. Our hospice advocates for what you want as you near the end of life and we can adequately represent your wishes.
Our hospice is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most other insurances. We admit patients based on their needs rather than their ability to pay. We also offer charity hospice and palliative care for qualified individuals.
Mission
Enriching the lives of people we serve with compassion, respect, dignity, excellence and integrity.
Vision
To be known as the leading hospice care in every community we serve.
About AMBIENT HOSPICE
AMBIENT HOSPICE provides Hospice as a special kind of care, a comprehensive program, designed to support you and your family during this difficult time. When life is thawing to a close, there are many challenges. In addition to pain and symptom problems, there can be a myriad of emotional, social and spiritual complications and issues. Hospice has been created to address just such concerns, including :
- Helping you remain comfortable, alert, and able to participate in life as fully as possible
- Supporting and caring for your family and friends so they can remain attentive to you throughout your illness.
- Enhancing the quality of your life so that you can continue to have opportunities to grow as a person as you search for meaning, peace and acceptance
- Providing ongoing support for your family during bereavement care.
The Hospice Interdisciplinary Team
S.R. Cohen & B. Mount
Your Hospice Team Members
Hospice care is provided by a team of health care professionals including: physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, chaplains, physical and occupational therapists, pharmacists, dietitians, home health aides and volunteers. Your team will work with you and your family to meet your needs. The hospice team is here to walk with you, sometimes leading the way, sometimes following you, over the course of your illness. The team is available to you for emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The center of the hospice team is you and your family. You are the heart of the team and all the plans and work revolve around your unique need. You are an active part of every team meeting. Your hospice staff will present your perspective, so plans are developed with your input.
W. Bucholz
Hospice philosophy challenges the team to go beyond symptom control, to create conditions for deep personal healing to take place. Alleviating the suffering associated with sickness is only part of the way in which the team is available to you. A life-threatening illness is not just a set of problems to be solved, there is potential in all of life, right up until the end for meaning, value and growth. We know that you are a whole person with a unique essence. We want to listen to you “with the ears of our hearts” so that out of incredible chaos and upheaval you have the opportunity for resolution productivity and passion in your life. It is an honor to get to know you during this rich part of your life. We invite you to get to know us and teach us how to best work with you.
Contact Person
At AMBIENT HOSPICE, the contact person for all issues regarding client privacy, clinical care or rights under the Federal privacy standards is the Director of Clinical Services. Our program Executive Director administers the program and is available for any concerns you may have. A qualified designee can handle your concerns if they are absent.
Hospice Philosophy
Hospice provides palliative support and care for persons in the last phases of incurable disease so that hey may live as fully and as comfortably as possible. Hospice recognizes dying as part of the normal process of living and focuses on maintaining the quality of remaining life. Hospice affirms life and neither hastens nor postpones death. Hospice exists in the hope and belief that through appropriate care, and the promotion of a caring community sensitive to their needs, clients and their families may be free to attain a degree of mental, social, physical and spiritual preparation for death that is satisfactory to them.
Paying for Hospice Care
Hospice is reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, HMO’s, PPO’s, and many private insurance companies. Hospice will:
- Work with all reimbursement entities to negotiate payment for your services.
- Submit all required paperwork and updates.
Medicare Hospice Benefit
Hospice care is reimbursed by Medicare. If you are a recipient of Medicare Part A coverage, you are eligible to choose the Hospice Medical Benefit. The Hospice benefit is a wonderful resource for you when you are facing a life-threatening illness. You will receive services in addition to the traditional Medicare coverage you are used to receiving for your other health issues. At any time you choose to change your benefits, you may go back to your traditional Medicare benefit.
To elect this benefit, you must be informed of all details entitled to you, and sign an “Agreement for Services” and a Medicare election form. Some of the highlights of the benefit are:
- Services and coordination of care
- Hospice Medical Director who may be a consultant to you physician
- Skilled Nursing Services by a RN Case Manager
- Home Health Aide Services
- Social Work/ Counseling
- Spiritual Care
- Volunteer Services
- Medications related to the terminal illness
- Durable medical equipment such a hospital bed, oxygen, wheelchair, etc.
- Hospitalization for short periods for palliative care of symptoms
- 24 hourfidays/week on call services for emergencies
- Bereavement care
Rights/ Responsibilities Established by Medicare
The client/family must agree to Hospice/ palliative care. The client/family must participate in the plan of care. The client/family must agree to follow the plan of care. The client/family must agree to call Hospice before any decisions that affect care are made. For example: Agreeing to call Hospice before calling 911. Agreeing to call Hospice before choosing to be hospitalized.
Other Requirements Include
The client’s doctor must sign a certification of terminal illness Hospice care must be provided by a Medicare-certified agency .
The Medicare benefit is established in benefit periods; two 90-day periods then unlimited 60-day periods, during which evaluations are done to assure the recipient meets criteria to continue in the program
Hospice Medicaid Benefit
The Medicaid Hospice benefit is similar to the Medicare benefit. Medicaid covers medications not related to the terminal diagnosis in many situations. Medicaid will pay the room/ board costs for hospice clients who reside in a qualified nursing home.
Insurance Company Benefits
Commercial Insurance, HMO’s, PPO’s, and private insurance companies have varying policies:
Every client’s coverage is different Many programs are similar to the Medicare hospice benefit We are able to negotiate services with most insurance companies
- Hospice Care Services
- Hospice provides care services regardless of the payer source. Care services include:
- Physician Services
- Nursing Services
- Social World Counseling
- Chaplain Volunteers
Hospice Benefit ( and most insurance plans )
Routine Home Care: Service is delivered in your personal home or facility of your choice. Placement assistance is available.
General Inpatient Care: Short-term care (usually 3-4 days) is hospitals contracted with the hospice. His level of care is limited to acute symptoms which cannot be resolved in the home care setting. Exampled include uncontrolled pain, intractable nausea/ vomiting, uncontrolled bleeding, etc., that is not responding to other interventions.
Respite Care: Short-term care limited to 5 days by Medicare and possibly 3 days by Texas Medicaid. This level of care can be helpful when the client/ primary caregiver need a short break, and / or when transition to a new living situation has been delayed.
Continuous Care: Reserved for symptom issues described under General Inpatient Care, This 24-hour, in home/ nursing home care provides support on an hourly basis by nurses and home health aides. It requires your Physician and RN to concur that this level of care can resolve the issue expeditiously.
Then let me go peacefully, and help my family to understand
(Author unknown)
We encourage you to call or visit to get more information. Contact us at 713-440-9979.
