                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 32.1-162.1)

As used in this article unless a different meaning or construction is clearly
required by the context or otherwise:
		&#8220;Hospice&#8221; means a coordinated program of home and inpatient care
provided directly or through an agreement under the direction of an identifiable
hospice administration providing palliative and supportive medical and other
health services to terminally ill patients and their families. A hospice
utilizes a medically directed interdisciplinary team. A hospice program of care
provides care to meet the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and other
special needs which are experienced during the final stages of illness, and
during dying and bereavement. Hospice care shall be available twenty-four hours
a day, seven days a week.
		&#8220;Hospice facility&#8221; means an institution, place, or building owned
or operated by a hospice provider and licensed by the Department to provide
room, board, and appropriate hospice care on a 24-hour basis, including respite
and symptom management, to individuals requiring such care pursuant to the
orders of a physician. Such facilities with 16 or fewer beds are exempt from
Certificate of Public Need laws and regulations. Such facilities with more than
16 beds shall be licensed as a nursing facility or hospital and shall be subject
to Certificate of Public Need laws and regulations.
		&#8220;Hospice patient&#8221; means a diagnosed terminally ill patient, with
an anticipated life expectancy of six months or less, who, alone or in
conjunction with designated family members, has voluntarily requested admission
and been accepted into a licensed hospice program.
		&#8220;Hospice patient&#8217;s family&#8221; shall mean the hospice
patient&#8217;s immediate kin, including a spouse, brother, sister, child or
parent. Other relations and individuals with significant personal ties to the
hospice patient may be designated as members of the hospice patient&#8217;s
family by mutual agreement among the hospice patient, the relation or
individual, and the hospice team.
		&#8220;Identifiable hospice administration&#8221; means an administrative
group, individual or legal entity that has a distinct organizational structure,
accountable to the governing authority directly or through a chief executive
officer. This administration shall be responsible for the management of all
aspects of the program.
		&#8220;Inpatient&#8221; means the provision of services, such as food,
laundry, housekeeping, and staff to provide health or health-related services,
including respite and symptom management, to hospice patients, whether in a
hospital, nursing facility, or hospice facility.
		&#8220;Interdisciplinary team&#8221; means the patient and the patient&#8217;s
family, the attending physician, and the following hospice personnel: physician,
nurse, social worker, and trained volunteer. Physician assistants and providers
of special services, such as clergy, mental health, pharmacy, and any other
appropriate allied health services, may also be included on the team as the
needs of the patient dictate.
		&#8220;Palliative care&#8221; means treatment directed at controlling pain,
relieving other symptoms, and focusing on the special needs of the patient and
family as they experience the stress of the dying process, rather than the
treatment aimed at investigation and intervention for the purpose of cure or
prolongation of life.

HISTORY: 1981, c. 346; 2007, c. 397; 2022, c. 151.