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Q: Is the hospice a locally based program or part of some larger organization?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice maintains a main office in Houma, Louisiana, and a satellite office in Thibodaux to better serve the medical community and patients.
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Q: To what extent are physicians involved in patient care?
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A: Physicians visit every patient at home or in hospital or nursing home at the
time of admission and are also available to make follow-up visits to patients as needed or desired. A physician is available to hospice staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Q: Do the hospice physicians serve on a paid or volunteer basis?
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A: Members on the Bayou Region Hospice medical staff serve on a volunteer basis because they view caring for patients in the final stages of life as a ministry or form of service to the community rather than as a business.
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Q: Do I have to give up my regular physician if I choose hospice care?
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A: Although Bayou Region Hospice maintains a staff of physicians, a hospice patient is not required to change doctors. Any Louisiana licensed physician can be the primary physician if he or she wishes to continue caring for the hospice patient.
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Q: How experienced are the nurses in providing hospice care?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice has registered nurses certified in hospice and palliative nursing, many of them have 10 or more years of experience in hospice care.
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Q: What help can I expect with direction to resources outside of the hospice program?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice features licensed clinical social workers. In addition to helping patients and family member cope with the emotional challenges involved in facing the end of life for themselves or someone they love, the hospice social workers are skilled in identifying and connecting patients and their families with services of other community organizations. For example, they can help with wills and estate planning, funeral arrangements, financial assistance for medications, meals for homebound senior citizens and arrange for sitters.
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Q: Is the hospice mission or profit driven?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice is the only non-profit hospice in its seven-parish service area. Care is provided with primary attention to the needs of patients and their families rather than to the financial interests of corporate investors or shareholders.
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Q: Will my patient or I be admitted even if we have no payment source?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice currently holds the distinction of being the only hospice organization in Louisiana that accepts all patients regardless of their ability to pay. Out of its indigent patient fund, supported by private donations, fund-raising events, and grants from organizations such as the Bayou Foundation For Health Care, Bayou Region Hospice covers the cost of professional services, medications, durable medical equipment, and emergency assistance for patients without a payment source.
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Q: Will care under hospice be terminated if my patient or I am still alive after six months?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice follows the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which allows re-certification after a six-month period based on the patient continuing to meet hospice eligibility criteria.
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Q: Can I expect regular in-person visits from the hospice chaplain?
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A: The pastoral care staff of Bayou Region Hospice includes a full-time chaplain and a team of specially selected and trained pastoral care volunteers. They visit as often as the patient and/or family requests and will also coordinate efforts with the patient's clergy and congregation.
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Q: Does the hospice program provide a volunteer to visit patients or assist the family with errands?
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A: The volunteer corps of Bayou Region Hospice includes individuals from the Bayou Region who share with us a belief in the right of each person to spend one's final days in peace and comfort and to die with dignity at home. They are trained and specially selected for duty in the areas of direct patient care, pastoral care, and bereavement care.
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Q: Will the hospice staff be available if a need arises at night or on the weekend?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice has professional staff regularly scheduled to respond to calls from patients or family members and to make visits at night and on weekends. In addition, physicians are available to the professional staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Q: Can the hospice program still manage my care or that of my family member if I need to go to the hospital?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice is a partner with several hospitals throughout the area in managing the inpatient hospice units in those facilities. Under hospice care, the patient may be hospitalized to control symptoms or to provide respite care for the family if necessary.
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Q: How inclusive is the program of bereavement care?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice has a bereavement counselor who is a Licensed Professional Social Worker and who specializes in medical social work and grief therapy. She offers a comprehensive program of individual counseling, support groups, workshops, and letter programs at no cost to family members.
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Q: What is the hospice program’s general reputation in the community
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A: Bayou Region Hospice has been fortunate to receive tremendous support from the communities it serves in the form of financial contributions, volunteer time, and general good will.
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Q: Will the hospice program force the patient to stop current medications or other treatments?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice assesses patients individually and makes recommendations to ensure medications are affective. Bayou Region Hospice has an extensive list of approved medications in accordance with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. In addition, patients on feeding tubes and IV's, as well as those receiving chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or dialysis can be admitted if appropriate for hospice care.
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Q: How long has the hospice program been in existence?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice was founded in April 2003. It is an affiliate of Hospice of Acadiana, Louisiana's oldest hospice, founded in 1983. As such Bayou Region Hospice is guided by a level of professionalism and experience that is unmatched by any other hospice program in the state.
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Q: Does the hospice have an on-going program to monitor the quality of care provided to its patients?
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A: Bayou Region Hospice has in place several measures of quality care. One example of such measure is the Family Satisfaction Survey, sent to the primary care giver approximately one month after the patient’s death. That survey helps us determine -- among other factors -- our rate of success in managing the patient’s pain and discomforting symptoms, educating the family members in the care of their patient, and preparing the family emotionally for the death of their patient. Another measure is a survey completed by family members in the bereavement program. That survey helps us determine how well we have helped family members cope with their loss after the patient's death.
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