General Guidelines for Hospice Admission

Lack of symptoms does not automatically disqualify hospice admission. Contact Roze Room to help evaluate and discuss your patients.

  • Life-limiting condition with prognosis of six months or less if disease progression runs its normal course
  • Patient/family informed that condition is life-limiting and have elected comfort care
  • Frequent hospitalizations
  • Decreased appetite
  • Increasing weakness, fatigue, somnolence
  • Alteration in cognitive and functional abilities
  • Compromised ADLs
  • Deteriorating mental abilities
  • Recurrent infections
  • Skin breakdown
  • Specific decline in condition

HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Disease Criteria

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

  • Unintentional progressive weight loss
  • Curative treatment unlikely to improve quality or length of life
  • The burden of treatment on the patient and family outweighs the potential benefits
  • Metastasis to multiple sites
  • Stage III b or Stage IV Metastatic disease
  • Treatment refractory myeloproliferative disorders
  • Continued decline despite disease directed treatments, or patient declines treatment

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

  • Shortness of breath at rest and with any activity
  • Disabling dyspnea at rest, fatigue and cough from COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, or pulmonary HTN
  • Hypoxemia at rest, right heart failure, resting or tachycardia
  • Unintentional progressive weight loss
  • Recurring respiratory infections
  • Using multiple inhalers with poor response
  • Increased need for assistance from bed to chair
  • Fatigue and/or increased cough
  • Repeated emergency room visits for pulmonary issues
  • Unintentional weight loss
  • O2 dependency changing

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

Patients eligible or awaiting transplant may be considered for hospice care.

  • Chest pain and/or shortness of breath with and without activity
  • May have a history of MI, resuscitation, arrhythmias, embolic infractions, syncope, inoperable valvular heart disease, or CHF
  • Treatment resistant angina or not a candidate for invasive revascularization procedures
  • NYHA Class III or NYHA Class IV symptoms
  • Fatigue, shortness of breath or functional decline
  • Taking multiple cardiac medications or a poor response to medications
  • Patient and/or physician believe heart surgery is not a preferred option
  • Personal choice not to pursue any further specialized treatment
  • Frequent ED visits or hospitalizations
  • Cardiac arrest or syncope
  • New dysrhythmia

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

Patients eligible or awaiting transplant may be considered for hospice care.

  • The patient is a transplant patient whose transplant has failed and the patient is not eligible for, or refuses, another transplant
  • Sudden or progressive loss of functional independence
  • Mainly sit or lie
  • Confusion or cognitive impairment
  • Bowel dysfunction
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Restlessness
  • Albumin <2.5 gm/dl, INR >1.5
  • Refractory ascites, Peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, or variceal bleeding

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

  • Cr clearance < 15 cc/min
  • Creatinine > 8 mg/dl (or >6 if diabetic)
  • Patient is not seeking dialysis, plans to discontinue dialysis, or can no longer tolerate dialysis
  • Comorbidities support eligibility

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

Includes: Alzheimer’s, senile dementia, Lewy Body, vascular and other dementias

  • Continuing weight loss
  • Needs help to sitting up, eating, getting dressed or grooming themselves
  • Unable to walk without assistance, non-purposeful ambulation, or bed-bound
  • Patient shows signs of severe anxiety
  • Impaired speech, bowel and bladder incontinence
  • Aspiration pneumonia, or recurrent UTIs
  • Decubitus ulcers, or frequent falls

These are guidelines only; clinical judgment is required

  • Must have established AIDS diagnosis
  • Decision has been made to forego antiretroviral, antibacterial, antifungal, chemotherapeutic and prophylactic drug therapy related specifically to the AIDS diagnosis
  • Chronic, persistent diarrhea
  • Significant weight loss of 10% or more in past three months
  • Generalized weakness
  • CD4 count < 25 cells/mcL (or)
  • Persistent viral load > 100,000 copies/ml (and)
  • PPS < 50% with AIDS defining infection
  • History of frequent opportunistic infections
  • CHF at rest
  • AIDS dementia complex
  • Toxoplasmosis
  • Generalized wasting

Roze Room Hospice can also assist by visiting your patient in their home to determine if hospice is appropriate. If you have a patient who appears to be meeting any of these indications, an in-home assessment by one of our trained nurses may be informative.  We are also available to help assist in the hospice conversation with a patient and their family. 

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Refer a Patient

Referrals can be made to Roze Room Hospice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Roze Room can support your team during conversations with patients, residents and families about hospice care.