What Are The Four Levels of Hospice Care?

Hospice is comfort care brought to every patient, whether in a private home, a nursing home, assisted living community, residential care facility for the elderly, or hospice house.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has defined four kinds, or “levels,” of hospice care. One patient may experience all four levels, perhaps in just a week or ten days of hospice services. Another patient may experience one level of care over several months of his or her hospice care. Each level of care meets specific needs, and every hospice patient is unique.

Every Medicare-certified hospice provider must provide these four levels of care:

Hospice Care at Home

VITAS supports patients and families who choose hospice care at home, wherever home is. Routine visits from a home hospice care team ensure comfort and dignity. Diagnosis-specific equipment, supplies, and medication are provided at no cost.

A nurse checks a man's blood pressure as he sits up in bed at home

Continuous Hospice Care

When medically necessary, hospice providers must offer continuous hospice care. At VITAS, we call it Intensive Comfort Care^®: 24/7 hospice care to manage patients’ acute symptoms and avoid hospitalization until routine services can resume.

A male patient in bed at home talks with a VITAS nurse

Inpatient Hospice Care

If symptoms cannot be managed at home, VITAS inpatient hospice care provides 24/7 support until the patient can return home. Our cozy inpatient hospice care facilities offer the support of an acute-care facility with homelike amenities.

A physician talks with a woman who is lying in bed

Respite Care

During respite care, patients spend a short time in a Medicare-certified inpatient hospice setting so their primary caregivers can take a break. Respite care hospice support helps caregivers avoid burnout and provide care more efficiently.