A family may hear “routine home care” during one hospice conversation and “continuous care” or “respite” during another. The terms can sound like separate programs until someone explains that they are different levels within hospice care.
Dynamic In-Home Care connects families with hospice programs in the Los Angeles/Ventura and Las Vegas markets. Dynamic’s hospice services use four established levels of care: Routine Home Care, Continuous or Crisis Home Care, General Inpatient Care, and Respite Care.
Hospice Intensity Can Change With the Situation
Hospice care is organized around an individualized Plan of Care. The patient’s condition and current care needs influence which level is appropriate at a particular time.
That means hospice does not have to look identical from week to week. A patient may receive routine care at home and later need a temporary increase in intensity or a different setting.
The four-level framework gives families useful language for those changes. Each level serves a different purpose within the broader hospice plan.
Routine Home Care Covers Ongoing Hospice at Home
Routine Home Care is the level most commonly associated with hospice delivered where the patient lives. Services are provided according to the individualized Plan of Care and the needs identified for that patient.
Scheduled visits follow the plan rather than a universal timetable. The hospice team determines which services and visit patterns are appropriate for the patient’s circumstances.
For families, routine care creates an organized home-based hospice structure. Questions about changes in the patient’s needs can be brought back to the team as the Plan of Care evolves.
Continuous or Crisis Home Care Responds to a Clinical Crisis
Medicare recognizes Continuous Home Care as one of the four hospice levels. Dynamic’s hospice materials also use the term Crisis Home Care when describing higher-intensity care provided in the home during an acute change in the patient’s condition.
