About this course
This is the first course a new hospice employee takes. Part one teaches the hospice philosophy: that hospice is a change of goal rather than a change of address, that palliative is the method and comfort and dignity are the measure, and that the unit of care is the patient and the family together. Part two teaches the Medicare Hospice Benefit as it actually works - where it comes from in section 1861(dd) of the Social Security Act and 42 CFR Part 418, how the per-diem payment shapes the way a hospice behaves, eligibility and the six-month prognosis, benefit periods, certification and recertification and the face-to-face encounter, the election statement and what it waives, the election statement addendum, and the crucial difference between revocation (the patient's act), discharge (the hospice's act), and transfer. Part three teaches the four levels of care - routine home care, continuous home care with its 8-hour predominantly-nursing rule, inpatient respite care with its five-consecutive-day limit, and general inpatient care for symptoms that cannot be managed in other settings. Part four covers what hospice covers and what it does not, including the honest conversation about overnight caregiving. Part five distinguishes hospice from palliative care and from Medicare home health. Written for hospice aides, nurses, social workers, chaplains, schedulers, and office staff in their first weeks. Suitable for new-hire orientation before independent patient contact and for annual refresher training.