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Hospice
- How long has the hospice organization been established in the community?
- Who owns the hospice? Is it owned by an individual, a partnership or a corporation? Is it a for-profit corporation or a nonprofit organization?
- Is this hospice organization licensed by the state and certified by Medicare?
- What other accreditation does the organization have?
- What industry quality standards does the organization meet?
Staff
- Who is the medical director and what are his or her credentials? Is he or she certified in hospice and palliative care?
- How many of the nursing staff are certified in hospice and palliative care?
- What are the credentials of the social workers and chaplains?
- What are the credentials of the other staff members?
- How are home caregivers trained?
Services
- What services are provided by the hospice?
- What services are provided in nursing homes or other residential care facilities?
- At which facilities (hospitals, nursing facilities and other health care settings) does the hospice provide care?
- Does the organization have its own facility for inpatient care? If not, where does the hospice provide inpatient hospice care?
- Is there 24-hour access to the hospice staff?
- What services are available after hours?
- How often will the hospice staff visit the patient and caregiver at home?
- What hospice services are not paid for by insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid?
Medical Care
- How is the patient’s personal physician involved in hospice care?
- What is the role of the hospice physician?
- Which cancer-fighting treatments can be continued and which must be stopped?
- Is there an RN (registered nurse) on-call 24 hours a day? Are the on-call RNs certified in hospice and palliative care?
Volunteers
- Are volunteers available to help the family?
- What type of training do volunteers receive?
- What is the volunteer’s role in your organization?
Family Support
- How does the hospice organization support the family?
- Are housekeeping services offered?
- How and where is respite care provided?
- How are the emotional and spiritual needs of the patient and family addressed?
- Describe the bereavement support provided.
We’re Here to Help
For more information on hospice or for free, in-depth and personalized resources and information on pancreatic cancer, contact a PanCAN Patient Services Case Manager.
Information provided by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Inc. (“PanCAN”) is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or other health care services. PanCAN may provide information to you about physicians, products, services, clinical trials or treatments related to pancreatic cancer, but PanCAN does not recommend nor endorse any particular health care resource. In addition, please note any personal information you provide to PanCAN’s staff during telephone and/or email communications may be stored and used to help PanCAN achieve its mission of assisting patients with, and finding cures and treatments for, pancreatic cancer. Stored constituent information may be used to inform PanCAN programs and activities. Information also may be provided in aggregate or limited formats to third parties to guide future pancreatic cancer research and education efforts. PanCAN will not provide personal directly identifying information (such as your name or contact information) to such third parties without your prior written consent unless required or permitted by law to do so. For more information on how we may use your information, you can find our privacy policy on our website at https://www.pancan.org/privacy/.
