HOSPICE YOU CAN TRUST. CARE YOU DESERVE. Our caregivers make every day as fulfilling and comfortable as possible. Through personalized care from a trusted and experienced team, we strive to make every day the best it can be.
At Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts we are committed to making a lasting difference in the lives of patients diagnosed with a life-limiting illness by enabling them and their loved ones to live each day as fully and comfortably as possible. Our team of caring, professional staff and volunteers will pay careful attention to the medical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients, their families and friends.
Our staff is committed to working closely with the patient, family and caregiver to assist them in understanding the end of life process, identifying what they can expect at the end of life, and empowering them to provide care when our team is not present. We are a community-based hospice, providing end-of-life comfort care to patients in any setting that is considered home as well as acute care hospital settings.
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts accepts referrals 24 hours per day / 7 days per week and will respond to any referral within 2 hours. We provide informational meetings to prospective patients, families, and health care providers on hospice care and eligibility requirements and perform same-day admissions when appropriate.
The Hospice Team
The following are the services offered by each of the team members:
Hospice Medical Director
The Hospice Medical Director attends hospice team meetings and provides advice and direction for the hospice team. The Medical Director works with your attending physician and RN Case Manager to ensure that the medical care you receive is closely monitored and meets your on-going needs.
Attending Physician
Your doctor continues to play an important role in your care while you are a patient at hospice services. Your RN case Manager will be in regular communication with your physician and will make sure that he/she is aware of any changes in your condition or needs. Your physician will continue to prescribe medications for you and will be responsible for approving any changes in your plan of care.
Staff Registered Nurses
When you are admitted to Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts, you are assigned an RN Case Manager. This nurse will provide skilled nursing visits, support and teaching to your caregiver, and also act as coordinator of your care. Nursing visits are made as necessary to monitor and control your symptoms. The frequency of visits may change throughout the course of your illness. In addition to your RN Case Manager, an on-call nurse is available by phone outside of normal business hours, to answer questions and to respond to problems. If necessary, an on-call nurse will visit you to resolve any problems that may arise outside of normal business hours.
Medical Social Workers
The Social Worker at Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts are available to you and your caregivers to discuss the emotional challenges of serious illness. The Social Worker can also assist you with healthcare decisions, advance directives, legal matters, or access to other community resources. Soon after your admission, the Social Worker will visit you and your family to determine how to be most helpful to you during this time.
Spiritual Care
Spiritual care is provided by a chaplain who is available to visit people of all faiths or of no faith. The chaplain helps discuss spiritual issues such as fear, loss, forgiveness, anger, or spiritual questioning. The chaplain can also help with religious questions or arrange a visit by a local rabbi, priest or minister.
Volunteers
Volunteers provide a variety of services to support our patients and families. The volunteers are caring and compassionate men and women who live in the communities we serve and want to contribute to others in a meaningful way. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts provides and requires a comprehensive orientation and training for all volunteers as well as continuing education, ongoing support and supervision.
Bereavement Counselor
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts provide bereavement services including support groups, letters, and calls or visits to support families and caregivers experiencing a loss. We continue to provide support for at least a year, or longer if needed and requested, after the loss of a loved one.
Home Health Aides
Home health aides are provided to give personal care under the supervision of your RN Case Manager. Home health aides are assigned based on the personal care needs identified in your plan of care.
Honoring Our Veterans
America's Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country and we believe it is never too late to give them a hero's welcome home. Now it is time that we step up, acquire the necessary skills and fulfill our mission to serve these men and women with the dignity they deserve.
We understand that some combat veterans who have coped well throughout their lives may experience increased combat-related memories and distressing emotions during their end-of-life journey. Exposure to traumatic events may also impact physical health later in life. We recognize that the effects of military service, good and bad, can continue to resonate throughout a lifetime.
Hospice understand about:
The challenges faced by Veterans. You are not alone
Connecting you with local VA staff to provide resources
Accessing VA benefits
Emotional counseling support for you and your family
Veteran to Veteran volunteer program
Assistance with military funeral and memorial planning
Bereavement counseling
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts offer a special program which recognizes and honors the contributions made by veterans. We offer to facilitate an appreciation ceremony, wherever our patients may reside, and present each of our veterans with a personalized recognition to express our gratitude and thanks for all they have done for our country.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hospice?
Hospice is a philosophy of care, not a specific place. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts are provided to patients wherever they call "home," whether it's in a residence, skilled nursing facility or residential care facility. Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide medical, emotional, and spiritual comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments. It neither prolongs life nor hastens death. Instead, it strives to control the symptoms that can cause pain and discomfort.
Who qualifies for hospice care?
Hospice is for anyone facing a life-threatening or terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months or less. Patients with cancer and non-cancer illnesses are eligible.
Does hospice make death come sooner?
Hospice care does nothing to speed up or slow down the dying process. It manages pain and discomfort. Hospice care is not about giving up. It's built on the belief that every day of every life matters.
How does hospice manage pain?
Hospice's success rate in battling pain is very high. Hospice nurses and doctors are up-to-date on the latest medications and devices for pain and symptom relief. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts believes that emotional and spiritual pain are just as real and in need of attention as physical pain. Counselors and chaplains are available to assist patients and family.
Is the decision to seek hospice care permanent?
No. If a patient's condition improves or if the patient and family so choose, they can be discharged from hospice care. If the discharged patient should later need to return to hospice care, they can resume services.
When should a decision about entering a hospice program be made?
At any time during a life-limiting illness, it's appropriate to discuss a patient's care options. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts is an option, and by law the decision belongs to the patient. Contact us to discuss your needs.
Who makes the decision about entering hospice?
Ultimately the decision is made by the patient, with consultation with his or her physician and the family, during a life-limiting illness. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts is available during the decision-making process to discuss all care options.
How is hospice care different?
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts treats the person not the disease. The emphasis is on palliative care, which means the hospice team members, under the direction of a physician, work to help the patient feel more comfortable. The goal is to enable the patient to live as fully and comfortably as possible.
What kind of support is provided the family?
Support of the whole family is an important part of the hospice care plan. Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts considers the whole family in decision-making, with the patient's choice as the primary concern for determining care.
What is the hospice interdisciplinary team?
Hospice care is provided by a team of hospice staff members who coordinate efforts on behalf of the patient and family. The team of professionals includes doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, home health aides, social workers, spiritual counselors, therapists and trained volunteers.
Who pays for hospice care?
Hospice care is fully reimbursed by Medicare and by Medicaid. Most other health plans and private insurances cover hospice services fully, but some may require that the deductible be met and/or may have a co-payment.
When is the hospice team available?
Some of the hospice team members are available to offer support and makes visits to the patient and family in their home environment. All hospice programs have a 24-hour telephone call service available seven days a week.
Grief & Loss Program
Grief services are a vital element of Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts for families. Before, during, and after the loved one’s death, hospice grief services can be an important support to assist patients, families, and all the survivors of an patient patient.
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts provides the psychological, emotional, and spiritual grief support needed during the difficult transition after the death of a loved one.
We offer counseling for those anticipating the death of someone close to them as well as patient and group counseling after death occurs. Other features of our comprehensive grief program are support groups designed for particular people who have experienced death, such as loss of spouse, loss of a child, adult loss of a parent.
At least once yearly, Hospice staff and volunteers offer an Interfaith Service of Remembrance, which celebrates the lives of those who died in care over the previous year.
Not only are we available for Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts’ families and friends - but also we can offer support to grieving members of the community.
With hospice intervention in the mourning period, the pain of grief can be eased. Survivors can move through the experience of grief, complete the normal tasks of grief, and grow spiritually as they progress in their lives.
If you have lost a loved one to death - spouse, friend, partner, or family member – and are interested in counseling or participating in a support group, please call our coordinator of grief services at the Wareham office.
Complementary Therapies
Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts offer a full aray of special programs that bring enhanced quality of life to thos with advanced illness. The categories of complementary therapies we offer are:
Pet Therapy
Through the PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) program, we have seen how being able to touch an animal can bring back memories and trigger conversation.
Caring Touch
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stess reduction and relaxation. It is a holistic method of healing, which focuses on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels to promote a sense of wholeness and well-being.
Music
Music has the ability to bring the body into harmony when it is stressed and has been able to serve as a "gatekeeper" in controlling pain. Our volounteers and staff are trained in the use of music for relaxation and reminiscence. They are provided with appropriate recordings and CD players.
Helpful Links
Hospice Association of America
228 7th Street SE
Washington D.C. 20003-5809
Phone: 202-546-4759
This site is intended to support patients involved in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of End-of-Life/Palliative education for physicians, nurses and other health care professionals. More specifically, the site has been designed for use by medical school course/clerkship directors, residency and continuing education program directors, medical faculty, community preceptors, or other professionals who are (or will be) involved in providing EOL instruction to health care professionals in training.
A comprehensive resource guide and directory of end-of-life care resources and services available throughout Massachusetts.
Hospice Referrals
Anyone can refer a patient to hospice. And any patient diagnosed with a life limiting illness qualifies for Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts.
Patients can self-refer, or elect to go through their doctors, family members, friends, counselors, nursing home administrators, or hospital discharge planners.
After making contact with hospice services, one of our highly trained hospice nurses, social workers, or an admitting team member will call within 2 hours to schedule a meeting with the patient and family. Should anyone other than the patient's doctor first contact us, a courtesy call to the patient's doctor is made to gather information about the diagnosis, confirm a terminal diagnosis, and determine whether the patient is appropriate for hospice care.
A nurse or social worker then meets to introduce Hospice Services of Massachusetts and Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts, make an assessment of needs, and sign consent forms after all questions are answered.
Once the nurse has evaluated the patient's medical records and finalized a personal care plan, a second meeting is held to review and sign admitting documents. Care begins.
Hospice Services of Massachusetts
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
Hospice Services of Massachusetts ("Hospice") takes the privacy of your health information seriously. The Hospice is required by law to maintain that privacy and to provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices. This Notice is provided to tell you about our duties and practices with respect to your information. The Hospice is required to abide by the terms of this Notice as are currently in effect. The Hospice is required to notify you if there is a breach of unsecured Protected Health Information. (PHI).
HOW THE HOSPICE MAY USE AND DISCLOSURE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
The following categories describe different ways that the Hospice uses and discloses your health information. For each category, an explanation of the category is provided, in some cases with examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways the Hospice is permitted to use and disclose your health information will fall into one of these categories.
Treatment. The Hospice may use and disclose your health information to coordinate care within the Hospice and with others involved in your care, such as your attending physician, members of the Hospice interdisciplinary team and other health care professionals who have agreed to assist the Hospice in coordinating care. For example, the Hospice may disclose your health information to a physician involved in your care who needs information about your symptoms to prescribe appropriate medications. The Hospice also may disclose health information about you to individuals outside of the Hospice involved in your care, including family members, other relatives, close personal friends, pharmacists, suppliers of medical equipment or other health care professionals.
Payment.s The Hospice may use and disclose your health information to receive payment for the care you receive from the Hospice. For example, the Hospice may be required by your health insurer to provide information regarding your health care status, your need for care and the care that the Hospice intends to provide to you so that the insurer will reimburse you or the Hospice.
Health Care Operations. The Hospice may use and disclose health information for its own operations to facilitate the functioning of the Hospice and as necessary to provide quality care to all of the Hospice's patients. Health care operations include such activities as:
Quality assessment and improvement activities.
Activities designed to improve health or reduce health care costs.
Protocol development, case management and care coordination.
Contacting health care providers and patients with information about treatment alternatives and other related functions that do not include treatment.
Professional review and performance evaluation.
Training programs, including those in which students, trainees or practitioners in health care learn under supervision.
Training of non-health care professionals.
Accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.
Review and auditing, including compliance reviews, medical reviews, legal services and compliance programs.
Business planning and development, including cost management and planning related analyses and formulary development.
Business management and general administrative activities of the Hospice.
Fundraising for the benefit of the Hospice.
For example the Hospice may use your health information to evaluate its performance, combine your health information with other Hospice patients in evaluating how to more effectively serve all Hospice patients, disclose your health information to members of the Hospice workforce for training purposes, use your health information to contact you as a reminder regarding a visit to you, or contact you as part of general fundraising and community information mailings (unless you tell us you do not want to be contacted).
Fundraising Activities. The Hospice may use information about you, including your name, address, telephone number and the dates you received care, in order to contact you to raise money for the Hospice. The Hospice may also release this information to a related Hospice foundation. If you do not want the Hospice to contact you, notify our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049 and indicate that you do not wish to be contacted.
Appointment Reminders. The Hospice may use and disclose your health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for a home visit.
Treatment Alternatives. The Hospice may use and disclose your health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
As Required by Law. The Hospice will disclose your health information when it is required to do so by any Federal, State or local law.
Public Health Risks. The Hospice may disclose your health information for public activities and purposes in order to:
Prevent or control disease, injury or disability, report disease, injury, vital events such as birth or death and the conduct of public health surveillance, investigations and interventions.
Report adverse events, product defects, to track products or enable product recalls, repairs and replacements and to conduct post-marketing surveillance and compliance with requirements of the Food and Drug Administration.
Notify a person who has been exposed to a communicable disease or who may be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease.
Notify an employer about an individual who is a member of the employer's workforce in certain limited situations, as authorized by law.
Abuse, Neglect Or Domestic Violence. The Hospice is allowed to notify government authorities if the Hospice believes a patient is the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. The Hospice will make this disclosure only when specifically required or authorized by law or when the patient agrees to the disclosure.
Health Oversight Activities. The Hospice may disclose your health information to a health oversight agency for activities including audits, civil administrative or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary action. The Hospice, however, may not disclose your health information if you are the subject of an investigation and your health information is not directly related to your receipt of health care or public benefits.
Judicial And Administrative Proceedings. The Hospice may disclose your health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal as expressly authorized by such order or in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process, but only when the Hospice makes reasonable efforts to either notify you about the request or to obtain an order protecting your health information.
Law Enforcement. As permitted or required by State law, the Hospice may disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for certain law enforcement purposes as follows:
As required by law for reporting of certain types of wounds or other physical injuries pursuant to the court order, warrant, subpoena or summons or similar process.
For the purpose of identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person.
Under certain limited circumstances, when you are the victim of a crime.
To a law enforcement official if the Hospice has a suspicion that your death was the result of criminal conduct, including criminal conduct at the Hospice.
In an emergency in order to report a crime.
Coroners And Medical Examiners. The Hospice may disclose your health information to coroners and medical examiners for purposes of determining your cause of death or for other duties, as authorized by law.
Funeral Directors. The Hospice may disclose your health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law and, if necessary, to carry out their duties with respect to your funeral arrangements. If necessary to carry out their duties, the Hospice may disclose your health information prior to and in reasonable anticipation of your death.
Organ, Eye Or Tissue Donation. The Hospice may use or disclose your health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking or transplantation of organs, eyes or tissue for the purpose of facilitating the donation and transplantation.
Research Purposes. The Hospice may, under certain circumstances, use and disclose your health information for research purposes. Before the Hospice discloses any of your health information for research purposes, the project will be subject to an extensive approval process. This process includes evaluating a proposed research project and its use of health information and trying to balance the research needs with your need for privacy. Before the Hospice uses or discloses health information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process. Additionally, when it is necessary for research purposes and so long as the health information does not leave the Hospice, it may disclose your health information to researchers preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help the researchers look for individuals with specific health needs. Lastly, if certain criteria are met, the Hospice may disclose your health information to researchers after your death when it is necessary for research purposes.
Limited Data Set. The Hospice may use or disclose a limited data set of your health information, that is, a subset of your health information for which all identifying information has been removed, for purposes of research, public health, or health care operations. Prior to our release, any recipient of that limited data set must agree to appropriately safeguard your health information.
Serious Threat To Health Or Safety. The Hospice may, consistent with applicable law and ethical standards of conduct, disclose your health information if the Hospice, in good faith, believes that such disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or to the health and safety of the public.
Specified Government Functions. In certain circumstances, the Federal regulations authorize the Hospice to use or disclose your health information to facilitate specified government functions relating to military and veterans, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the President and others, medical suitability determinations and inmates and law enforcement custody.
Worker's Compensation. The Hospice may release your health information for worker's compensation or similar programs.
OTHER USES OR DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
Except as otherwise permitted or required by this Notice of Privacy Practices, the Hospice will not use or disclose your health information unless you provide written authorization. If you or your representative authorizes the Hospice to use or disclose your health information, you may revoke that authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your authorization, the Hospice will no longer use or disclose health information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization, except to the extent that the Hospice has taken action in reliance thereon. You understand that the Hospice is unable to take back any disclosures it has already made under the authorization, and that the Hospice is required to retain our records of the care that it has provided you.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
You have the following rights regarding your health information that the Hospice maintains:
Right to request restrictions. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. You have the right to request a limit on the Hospice's disclosure of your health information to someone who is involved in your care or the payment of your care. The Hospice is not required to agree to your request, unless your request is for a restriction on a disclosure to a health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations (and is not for purposes of treatment) and the medical information you are requesting to be restricted from disclosure pertains solely to a health care item or service for which you have paid out of pocket in full. If you wish to make a request for restrictions, please contact our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049.
Right to receive confidential communications. You have the right to request that the Hospice communicate with you in a certain way. For example, you may ask that the Hospice only conduct communications pertaining to your health information with you privately with no other family members present. If you wish to receive confidential communications, please contact our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049. The Hospice will not request that you provide any reasons for your request and will attempt to honor your reasonable requests for confidential communications.
Right to inspect and copy your health information. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, including billing records. A request to inspect and copy records containing your health information may be made to our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049, followed by a written request. If you request a copy of your health information, the Hospice may charge a reasonable fee for copying and assembling costs associated with your request.
You have the right to request that the Hospice provide you, an entity or a designated individual with an electronic copy of your electronic health record containing your health information, if the Hospice uses or maintains electronic health records containing patient health information. The Hospice may require you to pay the labor costs incurred by the Hospice in responding to your request. When a request is received, the Hospice will act upon it within thirty (30) days, with one thirty day extension.
Right to amend health care information. You or your representative has the right to request that the Hospice amend your records, if you believe that your health information is incorrect or incomplete. That request may be made as long as the information is maintained by the Hospice. A request for an amendment of records must be made in writing to our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049. The Hospice may deny the request if it is not in writing or does not include a reason for the amendment. The request also may be denied if your health information records were not created by the Hospice, if the records you are requesting are not part of the Hospice's records, if the health information you wish to amend is not part of the health information you or your representative are permitted to inspect and copy or if, in the opinion of the Hospice, the records containing your health information are accurate and complete.
Right to an accounting. You or your representative have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by the Hospice for certain reasons, including reasons related to public purposes authorized by law and certain research. The request for an accounting must be made in writing to our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049. The request should specify the time period for the accounting starting on or after April 14, 2003. Accounting requests may not be made for periods of time in excess of six (6) years. The Hospice would provide the first accounting you request during any 12-month period without charge. Subsequent accounting requests may be subject to a reasonable cost-based fee.
Right to be informed if your Protected Health Information has been comprimised. You or your representative will be notified if your Protected Health Information has been compromised.
Right to a paper copy of this notice. You or your representative has a right to a separate paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you or your representative have received this Notice previously. To obtain a separate paper copy, please contact our Privacy Official at 508 291-0049. You or your representative may also obtain a copy of the current version of the Hospice's Notice of Privacy Practices at our website, www.hospiceservicesofma.com
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
The Hospice reserves the right to change this Notice. The Hospice reserves the right to make the revised Notice effective for health information we already have about you, as well as any health information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice in a clear and prominent location to which you have access. The Notice also is available to you upon request. The Notice will contain, at the end of this document, the effective date. In addition, if the Hospice revises the Notice, the Hospice will offer you a copy of the current Notice in effect.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE
The Hospice has designated the Privacy Official as its contact person for all issues regarding patient privacy and your rights under the Federal privacy standards. You may contact this person at 577 Main Street, Wareham, MA 02571.
COMPLAINTS
You or your personal representative have the right to express complaints to the Hospice and to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if you or your representative believe that your privacy rights have been violated. Any complaints to the Hospice should be made in writing to the Executive Director at 577 Main Street, Wareham. MA 02571. The Hospice encourages you to express any concerns you may have regarding the privacy of your information. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.