The Difference Between Palliative Care And Hospice

What is the difference between Palliative Care and Hospice? What services do each provide? When trying to decide between healthcare choices for your loved one or for yourself, understanding your choices is important. The following chart allows for a simple quick comparison between the two forms of services. While not all situations apply to everything, this table serves as a general guide. Because this information is so specific, give us a call and ask for one of our staff to go through your individual situation and how we can help you.

Palliative Care Vs. Hospice

Physician Support

Palliative CareHospice Care
Palliative Care Physician or NP will see you and review your case. They will make recommendations and adjust your medications as needed to care for your symptoms. Patient is usually seen every 1-3 months.Hospice Physician will review your case with your nurse and IDT team. Hospice Physician will make recommendations and adjust your medications as needed to care for your symptoms as needed. Can be done daily or multiple times a day.

Nursing Support:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Can be provided, but this is usually not the norm. If provided, it is very limited in scope.Nursing care is the basis of hospice care. Every patient gets evaluated by a RN and evaluation discussed with physician and hospice IDT team as needed to account for patient needs. Nurses usually see the patient 1-2 times a week minimum, and up to daily as needed depending on patient condition.

Medications:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Patient is expected to pay for his/her own medications through their insurance program or by self pay.Hospice covers all medications related to terminal condition with few exceptions.

Primary Care Physician:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Patient can continue to see his/her PCP. Palliative Care physician may or may not (usually they do) involve PCP in plan development.Patient can continue to see his/her PCP. Hospice will ALWAYS involve PCP in care plan development and communication. Some PCPs will choose not to remain involved with patients on hospice as care starts to become complex, needing frequent interventions from physicians. This is physician dependent.

Consulting Physicians:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Patient can continue to see his consulting physicians.Patient usually CANNOT continue to see his consulting physicians. There are exceptions.

Homemaker Support:

Palliative CareHospice Care
No additional services provided.Hospice usually provides homemaker services (cleaning, baths, personal hygiene, etc.) as needed by patient. This service can range from none to daily as determined by patient needs.

Curative/Aggressive Therapy:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Patient still seeking curative therapy, or aggressive therapy. This can include surgeries, procedures, interventions, hospitalizations, chemotherapy, etc.Patient understands aggressive therapy is not helping with overall decline, and will only increase suffering. They usually opt out of aggressive measures. There are exceptions.

Other Support Services:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Usually no other support services provided. Rarely Social Worker or RN may be available on a limited basis.Patient usually receives supportive services including visits from social workers to take care of any paperwork needs, planning arrangements, etc. They also receive visits from chaplains if desired for spiritual support. Volunteers are available for companionship, as needed and based on patient condition. Some hospices also offer massage therapy, pet therapy, aroma therapy, etc.

Place of Service:

Palliative CareHospice Care
Usually provided in a physician clinic setting. Can be in a hospital or nursing home, some providers do make home visits (this is very rare).Patient receives hospice services where ever they are. They may receive hospice services in a hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, independent living facility, or at home. Hospice comes to you and moves with you depending on your circumstances.

Lenity Light Hospice of Texas – Always a Guiding Light