Hospice & Palliative Care
Lower Cape Fear LifeCare adds care experts to your team to facilitate care.
We are…
- The only hospice in the region with full-time physicians on staff
- Our clinical team are experts in pain and symptom management: nearly 100% physicians, 40% nurses, and 10% of aides have earned their Certification in Hospice and Palliative Care
- Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center and Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center choose LCFL as their quality partner to provide palliative care to their patients.
Our Services
While both hospice and palliative care provide comfort and pain relief, palliative care can begin earlier in the course of a serious illness, and is primarily focused on pain and symptom relief. Hospice care begins when the current prognosis indicates a life expectancy of six months or less, or treatment is no longer available or desired.
Refer a patient for hospice or palliative care by filling out this form or calling our Physicians Resource Center at 800.207.6908.
Partnering with you in your patient’s last months to ensure that quality of life and care continue.
When your patient is approaching the end of life, we are there when you can’t be to make sure quality of life and care continue. Our interdisciplinary teams provide expert care and family support, and devote the time needed to prepare them for what’s next. Our care also extends to the patient’s family and loved ones by providing education and grief counseling.
When are patients eligible for hospice?
Patients are eligible for hospice care when the determination is made that life expectancy is six months or less if the disease follows its usual course. Patients eligible for hospice show decline in status in combination with objective indicators of disease progression.
This guide is a reference to factors that indicate life expectancy may be six months or less.
Decline in Status
Also significant in determining eligibility:
- Reduced performance status (as evidenced by reduced PPS/Karnofsky/ECOG)
- Comorbid conditions yielding a high overall burden of illness
Disease Specific Indicators
Make a referral for hospice care by filling out this form or calling our Resource Center at 800-207-6908.
Palliative care is specialized medical care to relieve symptoms and stress of a serious illness to improve quality of life while treatment is ongoing.
One in four Americans has multiple serious conditions such as:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- COPD
- Cancer
- Dementia
Once someone has reached the age of 65 or older, this figure increases to three in four. Palliative care can help.
Your patients and team gain palliative care experts to help facilitate goals of care, improve communication, foster patient satisfaction, and improve quality of life for your patients and their families.
Our palliative care services provide for coordination of care and improved quality of life through pain and symptom management. Palliative care patients are visited by a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. Frequency of visits depends on patients needs.
Refer a patient for palliative care by filling out this form or calling our Physicians Resource Center at 800.207.6908.
Together we make a difference.
We are very fortunate to have worked with hundreds of knowledgeable physicians who are dedicated to the best interest of their patients and the community. We encourage you to consult with your Lower Cape Fear LifeCare provider representative or call 800-207-6908 to speak with someone at our office. We will be glad to discuss what kind of care would be the best option for your patient.
“Our lives changed from the moment we spoke to the first person from Lower Cape Fear LifeCare. They take care of everyone in the family with love and respect. In a really hard period of life, hospice brings dignity, peace, understanding, caring and respect. Thanks for being there for us and especially for our loved one.”
Son of hospice patient
Don’t Wait
Only 10% of our patients take advantage of the full Medicare hospice benefit which includes ALL medical care, medications, equipment and visits related to diagnosis.
To find out if you or someone you love qualifies for hospice, call 800.733.1476 or fill out the below form:
