Greensboro Senior AdvisorWhat is the difference between hospice and palliative care?
Palliative care treats pain and symptoms of a serious illness at any stage, alongside curative treatment, while hospice is comfort-focused care for someone with a life expectancy of six months or less who has chosen to stop curative treatment for that illness.
Palliative care is billed like other medical care under Medicare Part B and insurance. Hospice is a defined Medicare benefit that covers the hospice team, related medications, equipment and supplies as a package.
Where can hospice care happen around Greensboro?
Wherever the patient lives: at home, in an adult care home, in a family care home or in a nursing home, with short inpatient stays in a hospice home when symptoms cannot be controlled where the patient lives.
DHSR's hospice listing shows 8 hospice licenses with offices in the three counties: Ancora Compassionate Care (Reidsville), AuthoraCare Collective (Greensboro), Gentiva (Asheboro), Gentiva (Rockingham), Hospice Home at High Point (High Point), Hospice of Randolph (Asheboro), Hospice of the Piedmont, Inc. (High Point), The Randolph Hospice House (Asheboro). Hospice does not pay room and board in an adult care home or nursing home, so the residence's charges continue.
When should we ask about hospice?
When a doctor would not be surprised if the patient died within the next year, when hospital visits are becoming frequent, or when treatment is causing more burden than benefit; an evaluation commits you to nothing.
Many families say afterward that they wish they had called sooner, because hospice's support for caregivers, including training, respite and bereavement care, helps most when there is time to use it. A patient can leave hospice and return to curative care at any time.
How do we choose among the Triad's hospices?
Ask how quickly the hospice responds after hours, how often nurses and aides will visit, whether it has an inpatient hospice home nearby, and how it works with the adult care home or nursing home if your parent lives in one.
Our home health and hospice roster lists every licensed hospice with an office in the three counties. Medicare's Care Compare also publishes hospice quality and family survey results.
Can palliative care help someone in an adult care home?
Yes. Palliative care teams, often linked to the hospital systems and hospices, can see patients in adult care homes and nursing homes to manage symptoms of conditions such as heart failure, COPD or dementia without requiring a hospice election.
Ask the primary care doctor or the hospital for a palliative care referral. It can be a bridge: some patients later choose hospice, others stabilize and continue palliative care for a long time.
Side by side
| Hospice | Palliative care | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Life expectancy of six months or less | Any stage of serious illness |
| Treatment | Comfort care for the terminal illness | Alongside curative treatment |
| Medicare | The hospice benefit covers the team, drugs and equipment | Billed like other medical care |
| Where | Home, adult care home, nursing home, hospice home | Clinic, hospital, home or facility |
Drawn from G.S. Chapter 131D, 10A NCAC 13F and 13G, DHSR and NCDHHS publications, NC Medicaid, CareScout, CMS, the VA and the Piedmont Triad aging agency cited in the text; our editorial standards explain how we check them.
