referral to Hospice Care Plus can be made by anyone: a discharge planner, family member, friend, nurse, physician or even a patient. All you have to do is call the hospice office. Upon receiving the referral, a member of the Hospice Admission Team will contact the patient's physician. In summary, three things are necessary to complete an admission:

• Primary Physician agrees that hospice services are appropriate and thus orders hospice care
• Patient/family agree to hospice care
• Patient meets admitting criteria

Our goal is to contact the patient/family within 24 hours of receiving the referral. A frequent question voiced by patients and families is, "Why didn't we know about Hospice sooner?" The Hospice Team is available to answer your questions regarding when a referral is appropriate. When you call the hospice office, some information you may need that will help with the process is the patient's diagnosis, date of birth, social security number and Primary Physician's name.

To make a referral, please call us at 800-806-5492.