Healthcare Partners
Partnering With You For Your Patients’ Best Quality of Life
When a patient qualifies for hospice, your role as their primary physician remains essential. Hospice care complements and supports the care you and your clinical team provide, ensuring your patient receives comprehensive attention across their care journey Cedar Valley Hospice staff actively monitor patients’ conditions throughout our 15-county service area and keep you informed of any significant changes – no matter where your patient resides.
Could a patient you’re caring for possibly have less than a year to live? Consider if they’ve experienced symptoms such as:
- Weight loss
- Decreased appetite
- Increased need for help with daily activities
- Frequent hospitalizations or emergency visits
- Higher levels of pain
If so, they may be eligible for hospice care.
Caring for patients with advanced illness can be complex, but by partnering with Cedar Valley Hospice, you can enhance their quality of lie. Our experienced team is here to support you with difficult conversations and provide the additional care and resources your patients and their families deserve.
How to Make a Referral
Some or all criteria listed may be present to qualify for hospice admission. The presence of multiple diagnoses may support admission to hospice. For more information, or and admission evaluation, call Cedar Valley Hospice
Why Early Referrals Matter
At Cedar Valley Hospice, 96% of our patients receive hospice services in their own homes or a resident facility.
Most patients reporting pain are brought to a comfortable level within 48 hours of initial assessment.
Patients enrolled in hospice care live, on average, 29 days longer than patients not in hospice care.
Referring patients to Cedar Valley Hospice earlier allows them—and their families—to receive the full benefit of our comprehensive support. We offer 24/7 nursing availability, personal care, medication management, caregiver education, durable medical equipment, emotional and spiritual support, therapies, and grief counseling. Patients who begin hospice care sooner often experience improved quality of life, fewer emergency room visits, and greater overall comfort. Many families tell us, “We wish we would have called Cedar Valley Hospice sooner.”
Early referrals can make all the difference – for both your patients and the people who care for them.
When to Refer to Hospice Care
Hospice is appropriate when a patient has an advanced illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, as certified by a physician, and is ready to shift the focus from curative treatment to comfort and quality of life. Patients are reassessed after six months to ensure they still meet eligibility criteria based on disease progression.
If you’re unsure about prognosis or would like a second opinion, our hospice physicians are available for consultation at 800.626.2360.
Hospice Criteria by Disease for Referring Physicians
- Rapid progression of the disease paired with critical impairment of ventilatory capacity
- Food/fluid intake insufficient to sustain live
- Recurrent pneumonia
- Multiple stage 3-4 decubitus ulcers (particularly if infected)
- Upper urinary tract infection
- Sepsis
- Fever that continues to occur after antibiotics
- Evidence of end-stage disease and/or metastasis
- No longer receiving curative treatment
- Anorexia with weight loss
- Requires pain/symptom management with frequent interventions
- Significant symptoms of recurrent CHF at rest, such as: dyspnea, increased confusion, nausea & vomiting, pruritis, restlessness, decreased urine output, edema and hyperkalemia
- Ejection fraction of 20% or less (not required for eligibility)
- Persistent symptoms of CHF despite maximum medical treatment
- Requires considerable assistance and frequent medical care
- Increasing duration or frequency of arrhythmias, fainting spells or cardiac arrest
- Food/fluid intake insufficient to sustain life
- Dependent in activities of daily living
- Bed or chair bound
- Coma beyond three days duration
- Difficulty swallowing or refusal to eat
- Food intake insufficient to sustain life
- Refusing G-tube placement for nutritional purposes
- Severely compromised speech or communication
- Incontinent of urine and stool
- Dependent in activities of daily living
- Co-morbid conditions associated with dementia (i.e., infections, decubitus ulcer, aspiration pneumonia)
- Inability to ambulate without assistance
- Documentation of specific liver disease in history and physical
- Abnormal liver enzymes – alkaline phosphatase, SGOT and bilirubin
- Experiencing ascites, edema, itching, progressive malnutrition, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, recurrent variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy
- Elevated prothrombin time more than five seconds over control or INR greater than 1.5 and serum albumin less than 2.5 gm/dl
- Patients awaiting liver transplant may have Cedar Valley Hospice services
- Dyspnea-tachypnea or tachycardia at rest (change from prior level of function)
- Progressive cough
- Oxygen dependent
- Hypercapnia – PCO2 greater than or equal to 50 mmHG
- Cor Pulmonale related to advanced pulmonary disease documented by EKG, echocardiogram or chest X-ray
- Frequent hospitalizations or visits to ER
- Poor or minimal response to bronchodilators
- Discontinuing dialysis
- Creatinine clearance < 10 cc/min and serum creatinine > 8.0 mg/dl (if diabetic serum creatinine > 6.0 mg/dl)
- Chronic or acute illness that precipitated renal failure
- Food/fluid intake insufficient to sustain life
- Increasing edema
- Patients waiting a renal transplant may have Cedar Valley Hospice services
Education
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Annual Physician Education Event
Enjoy networking, collaboration, and camaraderie with fellow physicians over dinner and a social hour, while gaining valuable insights to support your patients facing serious illness.
To learn more or reserve your spot, call 319.272.2002.
Continuing Education for Nurses
We offer a variety of learning opportunities for the healthcare community—many of which can be customized to fit your team’s needs.
To schedule an educational session or learn more, call us at 319.272.2002.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is best to begin advance directive and end-of-life conversations early. This conversation can even be had during routine physical exams. Hospice and palliative care discussions are easier for patients when they are had early in a diagnosis and should be held as not one, but several conversations. The team at Cedar Valley Hospice is always available as a resource in helping with these difficult conversations.
Hospice care is provided in the patient’s home, nursing home or hospital. Cedar Valley Hospice also offers the only Hospice Home in the area. It is a short-term, inpatient facility which provides care for patients in a home-like setting with specially trained staff. The Hospice Home is available to Cedar Valley Hospice patients as an alternative to a hospital stay.
Our hospice services are for anyone with a life threatening illness and an estimated life expectancy of six months or less.
Note: Co-morbidities are also a factor to consider in qualifying for hospice care. If you would like to discuss the possible eligibility of a patient, please contact us at any time at 800.626.2360.
Hospice care at Cedar Valley Hospice is available to anyone who qualifies for admission, regardless of ability to pay. Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurance plans cover hospice care.
Hospice care at Cedar Valley Hospice is available to anyone who qualifies for admission, regardless of ability to pay. Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits and many private insurance plans cover hospice care. Patients who meet eligibility requirements have several options to ensure their family will receive the support they need at this difficult time. Our clinical team is available to ensure they have the support they need and help guide patients and families in pursuing essential services.
The experts at Cedar Valley Hospice have been partnering with area professionals and providing the highest quality care since 1979. Cedar Valley Hospice is an independent, not-for-profit community hospice with the only Hospice Home in the area. We accept patients of all ages and diagnoses, and will never deny care to anyone regardless of their ability to pay. Cedar Valley Hospice also focuses on all aspects of patient-family health – physical, emotional, spiritual and social.
Yes! A patient’s physician is a crucial part of their care team at Cedar Valley Hospice. You will be asked for your recommendations regarding the course of their end-of-life care at Cedar Valley Hospice.
The staff at Cedar Valley Hospice would be glad to answer any other questions you may have regarding hospice care. Simply contact us online or call 800.626.2360 anytime for assistance.
When to Refer
Hospice Meds
Karnofsky Scale
PPS (Palliative Performance Scale)
FAST (Functional Assessment Stage) Scale
Common GIP Symptoms
Physician Newsletters
Service Area Map
General Information Brochure
LINK Palliative Care Brochure
GUIDE Dementia Care Brochure
Hospice Home Brochure
Grief Brochure
Veteran Services Brochure
CASS – HIV Case Management Brochure
S.O.S (Speakers on Site) Brochure
Have a Referral?
Anyone can refer a friend or family member to Cedar Valley Hospice. Simply complete and submit the form below to get started. If you have any questions, please give us a call at 800.626.2360.
Your support is
what inspires us
Enriching lives in the Cedar Valley is at the forefront of our mission. We are experts in providing hospice and palliative care, grief support and providing additional services for those with life changing diagnoses. As a not-for-profit organization, your gifts make our mission possible!
Become a volunteer!
Our volunteers are the heart of our organization. From visiting patients to helping with events, they perform a number of different roles that are vital to helping us carry out our mission.