FAQ

While both services are provided wherever you call home, they serve different goals. Home Health is rehabilitative—it brings skilled nursing and therapy to your door to help you recover from an illness, injury, or surgery. Hospice is comfort-focused (palliative)—it is designed to support patients with terminal illnesses by managing pain and symptoms rather than pursuing curative treatments.

Absolutely not. This is one of the most common misconceptions about hospice. Choosing hospice does not mean giving up hope; it means shifting the focus of hope. Instead of hoping for a cure, the focus becomes maximizing comfort, maintaining dignity, and enjoying the best possible quality of life with family and loved ones.

Patients can “graduate” from hospice. If a patient’s health improves or their illness goes into remission, they can be discharged from hospice care. Because Amatus Health Care offers both service lines, we can seamlessly transition patients back to Home Health care to focus on rehabilitation if their condition improves. You also always have the right to stop hospice care at any time to resume curative treatments.

To qualify under Medicare guidelines, patients need a physician’s referral, must require intermittent skilled nursing or therapy, and must be considered “homebound.” Being homebound simply means that leaving the home requires a considerable and taxing effort, and you generally only leave for medical appointments or short, infrequent outings.

Hospice is often most beneficial when it is started early, rather than in the final days of life. It is generally appropriate when a patient has a life expectancy of six months or less if the disease runs its normal course. Anyone—a patient, family member, or doctor—can request a hospice evaluation to determine whether it is the right time for hospice care.

No. At Amatus Health Care, we work directly alongside your primary care physician or specialist. Your doctor remains a vital part of your care team, and we coordinate our visits, updates, and care plans directly with them to ensure continuity of care.

We bring care to wherever you call home. This includes private residences, assisted living communities, nursing homes, and independent living facilities.

• Home Health involves intermittent visits based on your doctor-approved care plan; it does not include 24/7 private duty care.
• Hospice also operates on an intermittent visit schedule, but our hospice team is available on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to manage sudden pain, symptom crises, or answer urgent questions. During periods of acute medical crisis, hospice can provide short-term continuous care to help manage symptoms in the comfort of home.

Care is always provided by a multidisciplinary team. Depending on your customized care plan, your team may include:

• Registered Nurses (RNs)
• Physical Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Speech Therapists
• Certified Home Health Aides
• Medical Social Workers

For hospice patients, the care team may also include Spiritual Counselors, bereavement specialists, and trained volunteers.

Yes. Both Home Health and Hospice services are overwhelmingly covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans for eligible patients. For hospice patients, Medicare also covers the cost of medications, medical equipment (such as hospital beds or wheelchairs), and supplies related to the terminal diagnosis. Our team handles the insurance verification process and clearly explains your coverage and benefits before care begins.

Getting started is simple. You, a family member, or your physician can contact us directly to begin the process. We will consult with your physician, verify your insurance coverage, and schedule an initial in-home assessment. From there, we develop a personalized care plan tailored to your unique needs and goals.