N.Y. Medicaid Hospice Program Manual Policy Guidelines, Section I

Hospice is a coordinated program of home and inpatient care which treats a terminally

ill individual and family as a unit, employing an interdisciplinary team acting under the

direction of an autonomous hospice administration. Hospice care may be provided by a

hospice agency certified under Article 40 of the Public Health law and approved by

Medicare.

The hospice program provides the individual and family with palliative and supportive

care to meet the special needs arising out of physical, psychological, spiritual, social,

and economic stresses experienced during the final stages of illness, and during dying

and bereavement.

The interdisciplinary team is responsible for providing care and services offered by the

hospice and supervising and coordinating the individual’s care needs. At minimum the

team must consist of a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy who is employed by or

contracted with the hospice, a registered nurse, a social worker, and a pastoral or other

counselor. A hospice provider must ensure that the services provided through an

existing plan of care, and any new services added after the hospice election, will meet

the needs of the hospice patient.