Frederick, MD 
301-663-9230National Hospice/Palliative Care Month
David Wingate talks to Hospice of Frederick County volunteers about powers of attorneys, health care directives and living wills.
David Wingate talks to Hospice of Frederick County volunteers about powers of attorneys, health care directives and living wills.
Hospice of Frederick County, and the Elder Law Office of David Wingate are leading an effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare (living wills) decision making in an effort that has culminated in requesting the Frederick County Board of Commissioners to recognize April 16th, 2013 as “Healthcare Decisions Day.” “This Healthcare decisions day is an important day of awareness and education focused on encouraging everyone, including those who are healthy and in their prime of their lives, to think about and document care treatment preferences before a crisis,” states Laurel Cucchi, Director, Hospice of Frederick County. “Advance Directives (Living…
We invite you to join the many friends of Hospice of Frederick County who have created a personal legacy by pledging thier support. Their planned gifts are helping Hospice achieve its mission to promote quality of life by providing medical, emotional, spiritual, and bereavement support to individuals and their loved ones facing a life-limiting illness. Through a planned gift, you partner with Hospice of Frederick County to assure that its commitment to care for anyone, regardless the ability to pay, remains a reality for generations to come. As a member of the Planned Gift Committee, I Thank You in advance…
It's important for everyone to execute advance directives and powers of attorney. An advance directive, otherwise known as a living will, documents a person's desires related to end-of-life medical decisions. A medical power of attorney, is where someone is appointed to make healthcare decisions if the person is no longer able to do so, due to either a physical condition or reduced mental capacity. Also, a financial power of attorney is similar to the health care power of attorney but deals with financial issues banking, property, taxes insurance etc. It's especially important for people with Alzheimer's to have these documents…
With more than 1.6 million Americans now living in nursing homes, many of us are all too familiar with the debilitating cycle of a nursing home admission followed by repeated hospitalizations, a spiraling into decline, and ultimately death. A Brown University study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, confirms what many of us have observed: health care transitions, such as moves in and out of the hospital from a nursing home, do not lead to positive outcomes. More common are frequent medical errors; poor care coordination, infections and additional medications. For patients with acute dementia, these transitions can…
Hospice care can provide a great benefit to many families and their dying loved ones, and Medicare has been generally praised for its support through reimbursements to providers over the past 28 years. However, according to a recent article by Kaiser Health News and The New York Times, there is growing concern now about misuse of the program by for-profit hospice providers. Hospice care is intended to provide dying patients with palliative care in their own homes, or in a hospice facility or nursing home. But, as hospice has moved into the mainstream, concerns about excessive costs and misuse have…
Hospice is a very valuable service and should be ordered at an earlier stage of illness. Many do not consider hospice for Alzheimer’s, degenerative old age or other debilitating illnesses where a person is going downhill fast. They should. It is unfortunate that many people who died in a hospital emergency room or who received heroic treatments to prolong life in a hospital may have had the alternative of dying at home in familiar surroundings, with family or other loved ones at their side. When someone is in crisis or appears to be going downhill fast but there really is…
To be eligible for hospice a physician must certify the patient to be terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less and treatment for a cure is no longer provided. The focus for the patient has changed to supportive care and quality of remaining life. Hospice is paid for by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid Hospice Benefit or personal funds. Here are the conditions that apply for Medicare Hospice Benefits: You are eligible for Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) Your doctor and the hospice medical director certify that you’re terminally ill and have 6 months or less…
Hospice uses pain management techniques to compassionately care for the dying, states The Hospice Foundation of America. The first hospice in the United States was established in New Haven, Connecticut in 1974.Today there are more than 4,700 hospice programs in the United States. Hospice programs cared for 965,000 people enrolled in Medicare in 2006, and nearly 1.4 million people in the United States in 2007. Hospice is not a place but a concept of care. Eighty percent of hospice care is provided in the patient's home, family member's home and in nursing homes. Inpatient hospice facilities are sometimes available to…
The following is an estimate of the costs of the varying types of senior care for your aging parents: Telephone Calls – Telephone home call "care" can cost approximately 40 per month, for safety checks, medication management, etc. Home Care – Depending if you hire an agency, approximate costs $20 per hour, $7,500 for 24/7 care; or a private individual approximately $10 per hour, although you have to pay taxes, insurance on top. Respite Care – Otherwise, known as Hospice, can be paid by Medicare. Visiting Nurses – If treatment prescribed by physician, may be covered by Medicare or Medicaid….
