If your loved one has received a terminal diagnosis, you know that time – and particularly the quality of that time – matters so much. When the time comes for end-of-life care, consider the impact of the “hospice touch.”

Hospice offers a meaningful opportunity for families and caregivers to positively impact their loved one’s end-of-life experience. The choice to start and/or stop hospice service at any time belongs to you; however, those that initiate hospice care sooner rather than later are able to take full advantage of range of benefits and care services that hospice family caregivers provide, including:

• Pain management and symptom control
• Caregiver support
• Medications, equipment, and supplies related to the hospice diagnosis
• Help with understanding physiological changes and what to expect
• Emotional counseling for stresses of a serious illness
• Spiritual and grief support
• Volunteer support
• Registered nurses on call 24 hours/7 days a week

According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the No. 1 regret reported by families is that their loved one didn’t enter hospice care sooner. Compared to all other length-of-service categories, a larger proportion of patients are only enrolled in hospice a total of seven days or fewer.

To demonstrate how early referrals to hospice impact the number of services provided to patients and families, we took a company-wide look at our average number of visits based on length of stay.

Utilizing hospice earlier clearly increases the number of touches and support-care visits patients and families receive – and it offers them the end-of-life experience and peace of mind they deserve.

LHC Group is committed to delivering a higher standard of care. For us, it’s all about helping people. To locate a hospice provider near you, please visit lhcgroup.com.