Levels of Care

The Hospice Cost Report includes the following levels of Care:

     652 Continuous Home Care (CHC)A CHC day is a day on which the hospice patient is not in an inpatient facility, and receives continuous care during a period of crisis in order to maintain the individual at home. A day consists of a minimum of 8 hours and a maximum of 24 hours of predominantly nursing care. For each day, a beneficiary received 8 or more hours of predominantly nursing care, count the day as one CHC day. Do not count days by dividing the total hours by 24.

     651 Routine Home Care (RHC)  — An RHC day is a day on which the hospice patient is at home and not receiving CHC.

     655 Inpatient Respite Care (IRC)An IRC day is a day on which the hospice patient receives care in an approved inpatient facility to provide respite for the individual’s family or other persons caring for the individual at home.

     656 General Inpatient Care (GIC)A GIP day is a day on which the hospice patient receives care in a Medicare certified hospice facility, hospital or SNF for pain control or acute or chronic symptom management that cannot be managed in other settings.