Frequently Asked Questions
Seasons Hospice Care in Tulsa and Muskogee, Oklahoma
Have questions about hospice care or the hospice care process? Want to learn more information about the hospice, bereavement, and caregiver services offered at Seasons Hospice – Tulsa and Muskogee? View our answers to frequently asked questions below.
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General Hospice Care Questions
Hospice care is a set of services designed to help patients with a life-limiting illness manage their condition symptoms and bring comfort to their overall quality of life. Seasons Hospice works to meet both the patient and the caregiver’s needs at the end of the patient’s life.
Hospice care includes symptom management, personal care, emotional support, spiritual support, social service and grief support and anything else that can help patients and their loved ones during the hospice care process.
A patient qualifies for hospice care at Seasons Hospice whenever their doctor diagnoses them with a life-limiting illness and after the Seasons Hospice medical team performs additional evaluations. After the team assesses the patient, team members determine whether the patient qualifies for hospice care.
Any decline the medical team sees in the patient’s health helps determine if the patient needs hospice care services or not. Typically, hospice care can start when a doctor tells a patient they have approximately six months or less to live and that treatment is no longer useful or effective.
While there are many qualifiers for hospice care, here are some of the common life-limiting illnesses that a patient may have as they enter into hospice:
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
- Heart disease or failure
- Parkinson’s
If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness such as those listed above, contact Seasons Hospice today for an evaluation and consultation.
Palliative and hospice care are both designed to help manage symptoms of patients with serious illnesses. Healthcare providers administer palliative care at any stage of the patient’s illness – even during potentially curative treatment periods – while hospice care is reserved for the last six months of the patient’s life.
No, hospice care takes place wherever the patient is and feels most comfortable. Seasons Hospice teams work in a variety of settings, including:
- In-home care
- Independent living
- Assisted living
- Nursing homes
- Hospice houses
A hospice house is a facility dedicated to patients who are in the last 30 days of life. These personal spaces are available at little to no cost to the patient.
Make sure to research hospice companies in your area. Your primary healthcare provider should be able to provide recommendations. Google reviews are also another great way to see what other patient families are saying about the hospice provider you are considering.
The choice of hospice care providers remains with the patient and the patient’s family. A primary care physician may refer the patient to a hospice, but it still remains the patient’s choice where to receive care.
Yes, a patient may withdraw from care at any time for any reason. While Season Hospice always operates in the patient’s best interest, we understand that there are many reasons a patient may want to withdraw from hospice care.
Caregiver and Family Questions
Yes, Seasons Hospice offers emotional and spiritual support for the family as well. An example of one of our bereavement services is Grief Share, a monthly support group that helps grieving family and friends talk through their grief with others who have shared similar experiences. This service is available to anyone in the community, whether they utilized Seasons Hospice services or not.
Families also have the option to talk with the hospice team chaplains and social workers if they choose to.
Seasons Hospice of Tulsa and Muskogee Questions
Hospice care is paid for through several avenues, including, but not limited to:
- Medicare benefit
- Oklahoma Medicaid
- Private insurance
Seasons Hospice covers any additional hospice care costs that aren’t covered by the sources above. Seasons Hospice also helps unfunded patients get the care they need with donations from generous members of our community.
Most medical equipment is covered by your hospice benefit and should be 100% covered by insurance. Seasons Hospice in Tulsa is the only hospice provider in the area to own their own durable medical equipment. This allows us to deliver equipment faster and ensure there is no charge to our patients for any equipment needed to provide comfort and care related to their terminal diagnosis.
Yes. While we do not transport patients directly, a social worker on the patient’s care team will help facilitate the move.
If it is unsafe for a patient to remain at home, the social worker will help the family arrange a move to a hospice house or other care facility.
Seasons Hospice has doctors on staff who oversee each patient’s symptom management. Each hospice care team consists of:
- A team of doctors who will review the patient’s progress regularly and work with nurses on staff to provide the most effective care.
- A registered nurse (RN) and a licensed practical nurse (LPN) who visit the patient throughout the week to assess their status and adjust their treatment plan.
- Nurse aides who help the patient with personal care. They have regularly scheduled visits to see the patient throughout the week. Some of the items they help with include but aren’t limited to: bathing, using the bathroom, brushing the patient’s hair and teeth, clipping the patient’s nails, and changing the patient’s bed sheets
- A social worker who helps the patient and their family with any logistical needs they have at the end of the patient’s life. Social workers often help patients by: assisting the patient and family with legal end-of-life documents like funeral arrangements, end-of-life directives and will-writing arrangements, offering logistical support like helping a patient find a nursing home or assisted living facility if needed, providing emotional and social support, and advocating for patients without family.
- A chaplain who can help the patient and the patient’s family with spiritual support.
- Volunteers who assist the team by carrying out various non-contact tasks such as picking up groceries for the family or sitting with the patient while the family has to be away.
Patients have the option to keep their primary care physician as a part of their hospice care team. If requested by the patient, Seasons Hospice care teams work with family doctors to keep them informed on the patient’s care.
It differs for each patient as their care team will work with the patient and caregiver to develop a personalized schedule of when they will visit the patient. Seasons Hospice is on-call for patients or caregivers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
There are many reasons to choose Seasons Hospice, and while we can’t fit every reason you should select our hospice care on one page, here are some of our top reasons:
- We are the longest-standing hospice in the Tulsa area. Seasons Hospice opened its doors in 1998 and has been offering the best care in the area ever since.
- Seasons Hospice remains true to its core values established over 20 years ago of dedicated service to our community.
- Hospice care is our mission. While other healthcare providers may offer hospice care as a second thought, it is our core focus.
- We have low employee turnover. Many of our nurses, social workers and chaplains have served with Seasons Hospice for years because they are our most valued assets. They truly make Seasons Hospice what it is.
- We have round-the-clock companions for the last 72-48 hours of our patients’ lives. Everyone deserves to have someone by their side as they pass. Seasons Hospice makes sure that someone is there to fill that role.
COVID-19 Questions
Seasons Hospice is following all CDC, CHAP and state guidelines regarding COVID-19. Seasons is also complying with all facilities they serve.
All Seasons staff that visit patients use PPE to protect themselves and patients. Our care teams also utilize telehealth visits to check in on patients to lower the risk of transmission. Click here to learn more about our COVID-19 response.
Have Additional Questions? Contact Us.
We Are Standing By for You
Can’t find an answer to your question from our list above? Reach out to Seasons Hospice – Tulsa or Muskogee today. Our staff is ready to answer any of your questions about hospice care, obtaining a referral, our caregiver support services and much more.
