Hospice, Inc.

Metropolitan

    
Guide to Eligibility  Diagnoses   Q & A
Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease
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The patient has both 1 and 2:

1. Stage VII or beyond according to the Functional Assessment Staging Scale with all of the following:
  • Inability to ambulate without assistance
  • Inability to dress without assistance
  • Urinary and fecal incontinence, intermittent or constant
  • No consistent meaningful/reality based verbal communication; stereotypical phrases or the ability to speak is limited to a few intelligible words
2. Has had at least one (1) of the following conditions within the past (12) months:
  • Aspiration pneumonia
  • Pyelonephritis or other upper urinary tract infection
  • Septicemia
  • Decubitus ulcers, multiple, stage 3-4
  • Fever, recurrent after antibiotics
  • Inability to maintain sufficient fluid and calorie intake demonstrated by either of the following:
10% weight loss during the previous six (6) months
OR
Serum albumin < 2.5 gm/dl


In the absence of one or more of the above findings, rapid decline or comorbidities may also support eligibility for hospice care.