Medicare Ranks Upland Hills Health Hospice Care Among Best in State and Nation

Upland Hills Health (UHH) Hospice recently received some of the best ratings in the region and state in several categories Medicare uses to rate end-of-life care. Medicare releases health care quality-related data quarterly and posts the results on Medicare.gov.

UHH Hospice ranked higher than the national and Wisconsin averages in all 11 of the measures Medicare uses to assess both the family caregiver experience and the quality of patient care.

From the caregiver’s experience, the UHH Hospice team members’ ranked well above other organizations in the area based on their skills communicating with the family, helping caregivers reduce the patient’s pain and alleviate symptoms and teaching friends and family how to care for the patient. UHH exceeded both the national and state averages based on the percentage of patients who received visits from a registered nurse or medical social worker on at least two of the final three days of their life.

“Our team manages not only the medical aspects of care, but also the emotional, social and spiritual care of the patient and family,” said Hospice Medical Director Jodi McGraw, MD. “It is very important to personalize the care for the patient to ensure that they are comfortable and their symptoms and pain are managed.”

Families face many difficult decisions when someone close to them is near the end of life. The team at Upland Hills Health spends the time necessary to guide the family through the process as the staff cares for the patient. The comments from family members encompass a range of emotions. In their reviews and notes of thanks, families have noted:

“Your guidance was so important to me so I could be with him to the end. I am forever grateful.”

“The hospice team was kind, respectful and compassionate. I don’t know what I would have done without them. They made it possible for him to remain at home, where he wanted to be.”

Heather Johnson, RN, manages the hospice patient intake process. She encourages families or patients to contact UHH hospice services to schedule an informational visit. There is no cost or commitment for services and it can be scheduled in your home or at UHH.

“Even if a patient does not qualify for hospice, it is important to know when a patient is ‘ready’ for admission,” according to Johnson. “We can stay in touch and be a resource when the patient is eligible for end-of-life care.”

To see the hospice care ratings, visit: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/results.