How Many Nurse Visits are Required in Hospice Care?

Southern California

The number of required nurse visits for a patient receiving hospice care will vary depending on a few factors:

• Individual Treatment Plans: Each patient that receives hospice care is different from the next. Thus, different patients will require a different range of care and may need more or less nurse visits.
• Government Assistance: Government programs can be used to cover the costs of hospice care. Medicare specifically is often used to cover the cost of hospice and requires a registered nurse to make an on-site visit to the patient’s home at least once every 14 days to “assess the quality of care and services provided.”

• Insurance: Private health insurance plans may also require a specific number or frequency of nurse visits, though this is likely to fall closely in line with Medicare’s requirements.
• Legal Requirements: Hospices are required to follow all federal, state, and local laws and health requirements. As such, hospice programs, services, and requirements may vary depending on what state a patient is located in.

How often a patient will need to see a nurse aside from legally required visits will depend on the needs of the patient. Nurse visits are a necessity for assessing that proper quality of care is being executed.