Hospice at Home

Absolutely not. The relationship with your HMO is preserved and exists in cooperation between Sharan’s medical teams and HMO’s to ensure that patients receive optimal uninterrupted medical care.

Follow-up reports managed by Sharan medical teams are available for perusal of the HMO medical teams. In addition, HMO’s continues to provide patients with services to which they are entitled, for example:

Medical equipment, physical therapy, dietician, procuring medications, Form 17, etc.

If you have any more questions or you wish to consult with our professional team about any further details related to Hospice at Home, please contact the Sharan Palliative Care Team. We are available 24 hours a day – seven days a week.

We try to stabilize patients’ conditions as much as possible, while remaining at home. However, there are situations in which a treatment or test cannot be performed at home. In this event, patients are sent to the appropriate clinic/department for treatment, for example the ER.  Sharan does everything it can to reduce the duration of hospitalization and to continue treatment at home, rather than in hospital.

It is important to know that Sharan’s dedicated team is available to you in any state of crisis or emergency, and at all hours. Sharan’s medical call center operates 24/7, including weekends and holidays. The attending nurse is also available ‘round-the-clock and will contact the physician if quick intervention is needed including home visits as required. When necessary, the medical team will initiate any additional requirements.

Sharan’s medical team provides medical treatments that can be administered at home, such as injections.  Blood test requests are transferred by Sharan to be carried out by the insuring HMO.

Our dedicated multi-professional team provides assistance, both emotional or physical.

Care includes medical procedures related to the treatment of the illness such as administering IVIs, ascitic drainage, catheter care, management of feeding tubes, stoma management and more.

The team also ensures that patients receive required prescriptions for medications, assist in obtaining equipment and provide guidance regarding patients’ rights.

Sharan is available for patients and their family members in various ways:

You can contact and consult our medical teams via Sharan’s call center that is available for assistance at all times. The call center provides ‘round-the-clock administrative and medical assistance to our teams and patients. Patients may also use our user friendly online medical consultation app, MY DOCTOR. The App enables them to consult with expert and experienced family physicians and pediatricians via telephone or secure video chat. The app enables the physicians to perform a professional diagnosis, provide medical advice, issue prescriptions for medication or refer a person to the ER, if necessary.

As stated, there is a basic treatment team for Hospice at Home care that includes a male or female nurse, a physician and a social worker. All have appropriate training to provide supportive care for such patients and states of crisis arising from coping with illness. The nurse is appointed as care manager and he/she provides home visits on a regular basis. The physician and the social worker visit the patient regularly and according to need. It is important to note that the entire team is available for patients 24/7 through Sharan’s call center and the direct inquiries line. In the event an additional follow-up is required by team members, it is coordinated and performed accordingly.

Palliative care is provided by law in Israel to patients suffering from incurable diseases who have been defined as palliative by expert physicians in the field. Diseases covered by this definition are: cancer, heart failure, lung disease, neurological diseases, liver and kidney failure, dementia and state of unconsciousness.

Every citizen in the country is entitled under the Patient Rights Law to supportive/palliative if deemed appropriate. Care is provided subject to terms and conditions as part of the service of the insuring HMO and does not involve additional payment. Palliative care can also be obtained privately, and entails a fee, should patients’ and their families prefer this choice.

Yes, The Dying Patient Act, (link) enacted in Israel 2005, and the Directive Policy Statement added in 2009 (issued by the Director-General of the Health Ministry 30/2009), deal with patients’ rights to receive palliative care.

According to law, the target population for receiving this care includes:

Cancer patients, including terminal cancer patients, patients with terminal heart failure, terminal lung failure, terminal liver failure, terminal kidney failure, severe stroke, advanced degenerative neural disorders, unconscious patients and those suffering from dementia.

A referral can be obtained via the family physician. This requires receiving the HMO’s approval. Patients in hospitals who wish to be discharged to their homes and continue hospitalization at home, must arrange this procedure via a representative of the HMO at the hospital.

If you are interested in joining the patients who have already chosen to continue their hospitalization at home, under optimal conditions, all you need to do is contact your HMO representative in the hospital and request Sharan’s Hospice at Home. Patients who are already at home and wish to receive this service, should contact their family physician and ask for a referral to Sharan’s Hospice at Home.

You can also receive the service privately. To do so, contact Sharan’s medical call center at 03-7545954 and the medical director will discuss the scope of service with you and your family.

Medical care relates to all relevant aspects when caring for someone suffering from chronic, complex and terminal conditions. In the physiological aspect, measures are taken to alleviate and manage pain, treat respiratory distress, as well as problems in the digestive, urinary and other body systems. In the emotional and psychological aspects, the team provides support for patients and family members coping with emotional and psychological difficulties deriving from illnesses and implications. Additionally, they assist in utilizing patients’ rights and liaising with the insuring HMOs, the Israeli National Insurance Institute, etc.

Sharan’s Hospice at Home service provides every patient with a professional medical team that includes a physician, a nurse and a social worker. This team is responsible for the wellbeing of patients and for the medical treatment they receive at home. All members of the medical team are assisted by Sharan’s General Medical Director and a palliative care physician advisor, and they receive ongoing guidance and assistance in all aspects of daily care, management of symptoms and concern about patients’ quality of life.

Palliative care is a discipline in medicine that is focused in improving the quality of life of those suffering from serious, chronic, and terminal diseases, in the stage of the disease where all that is required is management of symptoms and maintaining an optimal quality of life. Such treatment may sometimes be prolonged. Therefore, it is called ‘palliative care’ or ‘hospice at home’. The main objective of palliative care is to provide patients with professional medical care in the comfort of their own home, while alleviating the challenges of managing pain and other physical and emotional symptoms easier for both the patients and their caregivers (including immediate family members), on a daily basis. This approach enables patients to lead as close to normal life, as possible.