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What sets us apart?

  • We are founded by San Diego physicians and nurses. We care about our patients and our community.
  • We understand the unique challenges that patients, physicians, and care managers face.

How can we help?

  • Our clinical team will evaluate the patient within 24 hours of receiving an order and assist with a safe disposition plan, regardless of whether the patient enlists onto hospice or not.
  • Our experienced admission nurses, case managers and/or medical director are available to speak to you directly regarding patient needs.

General Admission Criteria

  • Hospice is for all patients with a prognosis of 6 months or less.
  • Prognosis is notoriously difficult to predict. Christakis demonstrated that for patients with terminal illnesses being considered or admitted to hospice, on average, physicians overestimated life expectancy by five times.
  • In fact, only 7% of terminally ill patients were referred to hospice for an optimal length of time.
  • Patient’s functional capacity and has been shown to predict survival in patients near the end of life. Karnofsky performance status (KPS) is the most often used assessment tool for predicting survival length in terminally ill patients.
  • KPS of less than 50% (requires considerable assistance and frequent medical care) suggests a life expectancy of fewer than 8 weeks (Evans, 1985; Maltoni, 1994, 1995; Reuben, 1988; Morita, 1999; Llobera, 2000).
  • The most important questions to consider are:
    • In your medical opinion, does the patient have a prognosis of 6 months or less and would the patient benefit from hospice services?

Consider hospice if patient meets 2 or more:

  • Bedbound or unable to spend >50% of day out of bed or chair
  • 10% weight loss over 6 months
  • Recurrent falls, especially requiring ED visits or hospitalizations
  • Multiple ED visits or hospitalizations
  • Loss of ability to ambulate
  • NYHA class 3 or 4 heart failure
  • Metastatic cancer
  • CKD stage 5
  • Dementia and loss of ability to ambulate (FAST 7c)
  • Dyspnea at rest or with minimal exertion, especially if on oxygen therapy

Hospice Admission Criteria

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