About Us
What to Expect During the Admission Process
The first few days on hospice service will have a lot of activity, and you may receive calls from different team members and have several initial visits scheduled while services are being established. Once a patient admits to hospice service, a hospice nurse will complete a physical assessment and provide helpful suggestions to support daily care and comfort measures. The nurse will collaborate with the patient, family and physician to develop an individualized hospice plan of care. This may include one or more of the additional services that are available. The medical social worker and chaplain will contact you to set up initial appointments. A schedule of visits from all team members included in the plan of care will be developed with your input.
Getting ready for the admission visit
We want to get to know you
- What brings you to hospice?
- What has your physician explained to you about your medical condition?
- What is most important to you?
- What are your main challenges?
- What do you already know about hospice?
Who we are
- We are a program, not a place.
- Our priority is comfort rather than curative treatment.
- Our focus is quality of life – for the whole person and the whole support community. You are surrounded by a circle of support.
- We provide care for physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.
- We’re here to support caregivers while they take care of their loved ones.
What you should know about BJC Hospice
- We provide a care team: physician, nurse, social worker, aide, chaplain, grief support services and volunteers.
- We are available 24/7 for questions or urgent needs.
- Medical equipment, supplies and medications are available, coverage varies per insurance.
- BJC Hospice offers music therapy, Lumina life review, joyful celebrations and Passages to support the family.
Levels of Hospice Care
- Routine: in your home, retirement home, assisted living or residential care
- Respite: up to five days of caregiver relief provided in a BJC contracted facility
- Inpatient care: management of acute pain and symptoms
- Continuous care: extended home visits for acute pain and symptom management
- You may choose to discontinue hospice or transfer hospice providers
Planning for the future
- Living Wills and Power of Attorney
- Code Status
- We can assist with final arrangements.
What’s next
- A nurse will review all your medications, including over the counter medicine. Please gather all of your medications. The hospice nurse will review each medication with you, its purpose and whether or not it is related to the hospice, terminal illness or related condition.
- Please show the hospice nurse your Medicare Part D card so that the Pharmacy Provider information can be obtained.
- You will be notified when a medication has been determined to NOT be medically necessary and will NOT be covered by hospice. If this is a medication related to your terminal illness or related condition, Medicare Part D will also not pay for the medication.
- You will be assigned a hospice care team and each member will call you within five days.
- Please read our hospice patient handbook for a guide on when to call your nurse.
- Call hospice for all medical concerns prior to calling 911 or going to the hospital.
- Please call us anytime at 314-872-5050. We are here to help you.
What does hospice pay for?
The hospice physician will review all of your medical information after the hospice admission visit with the hospice nurse to make relatedness determinations.
Related
If an item, service or drug is determined to be related to the terminal illness and related conditions by the hospice physician, then the hospice will provide/cover it.
Related but not medically necessary at this point in your disease process
If an item, service or drug is determined to be related to the terminal illness and related conditions but determined to be not medically necessary by the hospice physician, then the hospice will NOT provide/cover it, nor will any other part of Medicare, Medicaid or other insurance.
Unrelated
If an item, service or drug is determined to be NOT related to the terminal illness and related conditions by the hospice physician, then the hospice will not provide/cover it, but other parts of Medicare, Medicaid or other insurance should provide/cover it.
Patient Responsibility
The patient/representative and family have the responsibility to keep the hospice team updated about additions and changes to their care. If the patient sees their primary or another physician and additions and/or changes are made to their care, the hospice needs to be informed. Failure to inform the hospice team prior to receiving care or services will impact the hospice plan of care and care coverage determination. This may result in a bill for services not previously approved through the hospice care team.