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What is Supportive Care?Who can it help?Is it hospice?What does it cost?How do I start?For Caregivers

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What is Supportive Care?

Agrace Supportive Care provides palliative (PAL-lee-uh-tiv) care services—specialized, supportive care for people who have serious, life-altering illnesses.

Our goal is to help you get more relief from the symptoms, pain, stress and other health problems related to a serious illness. We can also look for ways to lessen the side effects of your medicines and treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation.

Supportive Care can help at any stage of a serious illness, when you are struggling to feel better and worry less. The first step is to schedule a Supportive Care Consultation, a detailed, in-home visit from a Supportive Care nurse practitioner (NP).

Supportive Care also collaborates with UW Health, UnityPoint Health–Meriter, SSM Health and several local long-term care facilities. See the “Partners in Care” section of this page for more information.

 

palliative care - men playing cards

Who is it for?

Agrace Supportive Care can help adults who:

  • have a serious illness, but are not at the end of life,
  • are not getting enough relief from their medications and other treatment, and
  • have trouble leaving home or traveling to their doctor or clinic because of their illness.

This service can also support a person’s family caregivers, because it looks at more than just the medical concerns that affect a family when someone is seriously ill.

 

 

How does it help?NP reviewing prescriptions with couple

Supportive Care Consultations are detailed, in-home visits made by a Supportive Care doctor or nurse practitioner. The visit lasts about 90 minutes, which allows time for detailed conversation.

During this consult visit: 

  • An Agrace nurse practitioner will give you a physical exam, ask you about any troubling symptoms, and talk with you about how medicines and other treatments are working.
  • You will talk about your goals for care and what gets in the way of meeting your goals.
  • You will have time to discuss things that are causing you to worry, and your choices for future treatment.
  • The social worker will explain other community resources that might help, such as meal delivery or support organizations that help people with your illness.

After the visit, Agrace Supportive Care will give you and your doctor ideas to help improve your comfort and reduce stress, such as trying different medicines or treatments, or making lifestyle changes. You and your doctor can decide which changes you want to make to meet your goals. With your doctor’s approval, we can make follow-up visits to check on how well the changes are working.

 

How is it different than hospice care?

Agrace Supportive Care Consultations are meant to improve your comfort, but they are not the same as hospice care.

Hospice care is specifically for people whose main goal is comfort, not a cure, and who are likely in their last six months of life. You usually cannot have hospice care while you are also having treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation with the goal of being cured. The services included in hospice care are well defined by Medicare and are similar from one hospice to another across America.

Supportive Care Consultations are appropriate at any stage of a serious illness, regardless of your prognosis. You can have Supportive Care while you continue to get treatment in the hope of being cured. In fact, palliative care can be very helpful to people who are struggling with the physical and emotional stress and the side effects of their treatment.

 

What does it cost?

Insurance: Medicare, Medicaid and most insurers usually cover Supportive Care consultations, including follow-up visits. You may have to make a co-payment, as you would if you were visiting your doctor’s office.

Self-pay: If you are not using insurance to pay for your Supportive Care consultation, Agrace must provide you a “good faith” estimate of the expected cost of your care. You can learn more here.

Care for All: If you do not have insurance and cannot pay for the consultation, Supportive Care may be able to offer you help paying, through our Care for All program. This donor-funded program offers help paying when our patients cannot afford the care they need.

 

How do I get started?

You can ask your doctor to call Agrace Supportive Care, or you can contact us directly to schedule a visit.

 (800) 930-2770

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Call to talk to an interpreter / Tenemos intérpretes disponibles: (800) 930-2770

 

Caregiver Support

If your family member has a serious or life-altering illness, our Care Tips for Families page has tips and resources that will help you care for them (and yourself) at home.

Care Tips for Families