How Do Hospice Teams Coordinate With Your Physicians?
If someone you love is about to enter hospice, you probably have a lot of questions. Who will be helping us? How are medical decisions made? Will my family member’s current doctor still be involved? Our care team at Star City Hospice works closely with your family and your loved one’s doctors to give you the best end-of-life care possible. We bring your family, our hospice team, and your current physicians together to create a thoughtful care plan. In this blog, we’ll explain who will be on your hospice team, how we work with your loved one’s doctors to coordinate patient care, and how we keep your family in the loop throughout the entire process.
The Members of Your Hospice Team
When you partner with Star City Hospice, your family member will have access to hospice doctors, nurses, home aides, social workers, spiritual counselors, and volunteers. We assemble your loved one’s team based on their unique physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. These are all the roles on our care teams:
Hospice Doctor
Our hospice doctors have specialized experience in end-of-life care. They focus on managing painful symptoms, difficulty breathing, and anxiety to keep your family member comfortable. If your family wants your previous doctor to stay involved, our hospice doctor partners with your loved one’s old physician to coordinate medical decisions.
Nurses
Hospice nurses check on your loved one daily and give you and the doctors updates. They give their patients medications, keep track of symptoms, and handle routine pain relief. Our nurses may also train aides and other caregivers on how to recognize red flags and when to call for help.
Aides
Hospice aides provide companionship and help with daily tasks like bathing and dressing. They can clean, prepare meals, and help your family member get around the house. Aides may visit daily or just a few times a week, depending on the care planning. Care aides are usually the members of the hospice team your patient will spend the most time with.
Social Workers
Social workers offer companionship and emotional support during hospice services. They can also help your family with paperwork related to end-of-life care, like advance directives. Social workers can also help your family with insurance issues and help you find support groups in your community.
A Chaplain
Chaplains are available for spiritual support as your family goes through hospice. Chaplains are available to pray with your family or just offer companionship and someone to talk to. Talking with a chaplain may give your family comfort whether you’re religious or not.
Volunteers
Our volunteers step in wherever they can to help with simple tasks. Some volunteer to run errands or help with house chores for your family. You can also request volunteers to keep your loved one company when your family needs a short break.
Bereavement Counselors
Bereavement counselors are available to your family after your loved one has passed. These counselors can help you process grief or just give you comfort and companionship. Star City Hospice is here to help your entire family navigate this difficult time in your lives.
We believe interdisciplinary care gives our patients the best hospice experience possible. All these caregivers lend their unique skills to make your patient and your family as comfortable as possible.
How Our Hospice Physicians Partner with Your Family’s Doctors
A Team Collaboration to Give the Best Care
Starting hospice services doesn’t mean your loved one can’t keep seeing their doctor. The hospice doctors on our team work with your physicians to…
Share Medical History
One of the first steps in coordinating care is sharing your family member’s medical history. We want to get a complete picture of our patients’ health, including past diagnoses, treatments, and hospital visits. We use all this information to create a better care plan.
Create a Care Plan
Next, we’ll sit down to create your loved one’s hospice care plan. Your doctor brings years of experience in treating your family member, and our hospice doctors bring specialized experience in managing end-of-life symptoms. Together, they will thoughtfully put together a plan to keep your family member as comfortable as possible during hospice.
Manage Medications and Treatments
Our hospice doctors also discuss medications with your patient’s doctors to see if we can simplify their routine and reduce side effects. This team collaboration prevents bad drug interactions or situations where your loved one might be receiving too many or too few medications.
Take Care of Emergencies
Our hospice doctors and nurses act quickly if your family member has a medical emergency. They will arrive as soon as they can to give the proper care while also coordinating with your primary doctor if needed. Our goal is to minimize trips to the hospital and keep your family member as comfortable as we can.
Bring in Specialists
Patients can keep seeing their doctors when they start hospice, and that includes their specialists. Our hospice physicians may coordinate with specialists like cardiologists or oncologists as needed to give our patients the best care.
FAQs On How Our Hospice Teams Coordinate with Your Doctors
How does the transition from regular doctor to hospice doctor work?
The transition to hospice starts when your loved one’s current doctor certifies that they are terminally ill and eligible for hospice services. Once we’re contacted, we review your patient’s medical records and match you with one of our hospice doctors. During the planning phase, we introduce your family to your hospice team and there is a handoff between your doctor and the hospice doctor. Your hospice doctor becomes the patient’s official “attending physician.” If your family wants the former doctor to stay involved, we make that arrangement part of your patient’s care plan.
How does the hospice doctor share information with my loved one’s original doctor?
Doctors communicate through multiple channels. If the information is urgent, they have phone calls to share important updates. They may share less urgent information through your family member’s electronic health records. Our hospice doctors are experienced in coordinating with our patients’ other doctors and specialists to make sure nothing is overlooked.
Who makes the final patient care decisions in hospice, the hospice doctor or my family member’s original doctor?
When someone enters hospice, the hospice doctor usually becomes the lead medical provider. They have to respond to sudden changes in symptoms and make decisions, like adjusting medications. But this doesn’t mean your current doctor won’t still be involved. Hospice doctors coordinate with your patient’s old doctors if requested. Hospice doctors also communicate with your family and make sure their care is aligned with what your loved one wants.
Can you give me an example of how your hospice doctors would coordinate with my family member’s doctors during an emergency?
A patient having trouble breathing is a common emergency during hospice care. In this situation, your family or one of your loved one’s aides will call the hospice doctors and nurses. They will arrive quickly and make a decision on how to adjust your loved one’s medications to give them relief. Once the emergency is under control, the hospice physician may contact your patient’s other doctors to update them and consult them on how to best move forward.
How will the hospice team update my family?
At Star City Hospice, we prioritize keeping your family in the loop at all times. You are part of your loved one’s hospice care team. When you visit your family member, our hospice teams take the time to share important updates and answer any questions you have. When you can’t visit your loved one, our team will call you to give you updates.
Contact Star City Hospice Today
Interdisciplinary Care for Families in Dallas Texas
Are you looking for a hospice provider in the Dallas Texas area who will work together with your loved one’s current doctors? At Star City Hospice, we focus on collaborative communication to keep your family member as comfortable as possible during their end-of-life care.
Contact us today to learn more about our hospice services in the Dallas Texas area. We’re happy to learn about your situation and help you decide whether our hospice team is a good fit for your family.