Is Hospice Care 24/7?

One common question patients and their loved ones have about hospice care is whether it is available 24/7. The short answer to that question is “Yes.” Hospice care is available 24/7. The longer answer is that hospice includes multiple levels of care. The type of 24/7 care that is available at a given time depends on which of those levels of care is currently active. This, in turn, is based on the patient’s needs at that moment in time.

Level of Hospice Care

Here are the four levels of hospice care:

• Routine home care: The majority of the time, hospice care takes the form of routine home care. During routine home care, the patient is stable. Nurses or other medical personnel are not present at the patient’s home 24/7, because they do not need to be. Instead, they visit on a scheduled day. During routine home care, however, you can still reach the team 24/7. If there is a crisis, they can immediately dispatch medical personnel to the patient’s home to provide emergency care.

• General inpatient care: If a crisis necessitates inpatient care, the patient is transferred to a medical facility. This type of care can be around-the-clock, as the patient may need continuous care in order to stabilize.

• Continuous home care: Similar to inpatient care, this is a type of continuous care that the patient receives during a crisis. The difference is that it is received in the patient’s home, rather than at an inpatient facility.

• Respite care: The purpose of respite care is to provide a break to the patient’s primary caregivers (i.e. family or friends). During respite care, the patient receives care at an inpatient facility.

So, to summarize, during routine home care, care is available 24/7. And during a crisis, continuous, around-the-clock care is provided until the patient is stable via continuous home care or general inpatient care.

Get the Dedicated Care You or Your Loved One Needs

Now you know more about the levels of care you can receive through hospice, and how we make sure that patients’ needs are addressed 24/7.

With our locations in Alpharetta and Atlanta, we are able to quickly reach patients in their homes throughout the metropolitan region, ensuring rapid care. To ask questions or learn more about how we can help you or your loved one, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567.