WAC 182-551-1010. Hospice program — Definitions

The following definitions and abbreviations and those found in chapter 182-500 WAC, Medical definitions, apply to this subchapter. "Authorized health care representative" - A person who has authority under RCW 7.70.065 to provide informed consent to terminate medical care or to elect or revoke the election of hospice care on behalf of a terminally ill individual who lacks capacity. "Biologicals" - Medicinal preparations including serum, vaccine autotoxins, and biotechnological drugs made from living organisms and their products. "Brief period" - Six days or less within a 30 consecutive-day period. "Community services office (CSO)" - An office of the department of social and health services (DSHS) that administers social and health services at the community level. "Concurrent care" - Medically necessary services delivered at the same time as hospice services, providing a blend of curative and palliative services to clients 20 years of age and younger who are enrolled in hospice. See WAC 182-551-1860 . "Curative care" - Treatment aimed at achieving a disease-free state. "Discharge" - A hospice agency ends hospice care for a client. "Election period" - The time, 90 or 60 calendar days, that the client is certified as eligible for and chooses to receive hospice care. "Family" - A person or people who are important to the client and need not be relatives. "Home and community services (HCS) office" - A department of social and health services (DSHS) home and community living administration office that manages the state's comprehensive long-term care system which provides in-home, residential, and nursing home services to clients with functional disabilities. "Hospice agency" - A person or entity administering or providing hospice services directly or through a contract arrangement to people in places of temporary or permanent residence under the direction of an interdisciplinary team composed of at least a nurse, social worker, physician, spiritual counselor, and volunteer. (Note: For the purposes of this subchapter, requirements for hospice agencies also apply to hospice care centers.) "Hospice aide" - A person registered or certified as a nursing assistant under chapter 18.88A RCW who, under the direction and supervision of a registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist, assists in the delivery of nursing or therapy related activities, or both, to patients of a hospice agency or hospice care center. "Hospice aide services" - Services provided by hospice aides employed by an in-home services agency licensed to provide hospice or hospice care center services under the supervision of a registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist. Such care may include ambulation and exercise, medication assistance level 1 and level 2, reporting changes in client's conditions and needs, completing appropriate records, personal care or homemaker services, and other nonmedical tasks, as defined in this section. "Hospice care center" - A homelike noninstitutional facility where hospice services are provided that meets the requirements for operation under RCW 70.127.280 and applicable rules. "Hospice services" - Symptom and pain management provided to a terminally ill person, and emotional, spiritual, and bereavement support for the person and their family in a place of temporary or permanent residence. "Interdisciplinary team" - The group of people involved in client care providing hospice services or hospice care center services including, at a minimum, a physician, registered nurse, social worker, spiritual counselor, and volunteer. "Palliative" - Medical treatment designed to reduce pain or increase comfort, rather than cure. "Plan of care (POC)" - A written document based on assessment of client needs that identifies services to meet these needs. "Related condition(s)" - Any health condition(s) that manifests secondary to or exacerbates symptoms associated with the progression of the condition and/or disease, the treatment being received, or the process of dying. (Examples of related conditions: Medication management of nausea and vomiting secondary to pain medication; skin breakdown prevention/treatment due to peripheral edema.) "Residence" - A client's home or place of living. "Revoke" or "revocation" - The choice to stop receiving hospice care. "Terminally ill" - The client has a life expectancy of six months or less, assuming the client's disease process runs its natural course. "24-hour day" - A day beginning and ending at midnight.