Three Easy Steps to Getting Your Patient Into Hospice Care

1. Contact EZ Comfort Hospice Care at 805-422-8587.
2. Provide us with information regarding the patient's diagnosis and needs.
3. We will schedule a visit and presentation with the patient and/or family within 24 hours. 

For patients in the hospital, we will work with Discharge Planning to coordinate moving the patient within the hospital's requirements.

We have an On-Call nurse and Medical Director available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Your patient's hospice information is kept in a secure on-line database updated by our team members in real time following visits, contacts or changes in treatment.

When is it time to talk to a patient about hospice?

Early in the diagnosis.  This gives the patient and the family time to evaluate all of their options as the illness progresses.  EZ Comfort Hospice Care can make a presentation to the patient and/or family early in the diagnosis so they can understand their options and we can become familiar with their situation, allowing for a seamless transition to hospice at a later time.

When is it time to refer a patient to hospice?

• When, in your best judgment, the patient has a life expectancy of six months or less.
• When the focus of treatment shifts to comfort care.
• When there is a history of frequent,  multiple hospitalizations or emergency room visits.
• When the patient's pain and symptoms require close monitoring.
• When the patient and family need additional physical and/or emotional support.
• Both the family and patient benefit most when the full range of services can be integrated into the family unit.  This is best accomplished when the hospice team has weeks, rather than days, to assess and address their needs.

What illness does a patient need to have to receive hospice care?

Any patient who has an illness that has become end-stage may receive hospice care.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Alzheimer's
• Dementia
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cerebrovascular disease (i.e. stroke)
• Cancer
• Neurological disorders
  • ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Parkinson's
  • Muscular Dystrophy
• AIDS
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Pulmonary fibrosis (emphysema)
• Liver disease
• Debility unspecified (failure to thrive)
• Other illnesses 

Note: Prognosis do not have to be certain, as some end-stage conditions have unpredictable courses.  Patients may initially improve in hospice.  Patients may be in hospice longer than six months.

Our Director of Patient Care Services and Medical Director are available for eligibility and referral consultations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 805-422-8587.