For referrers, facility staff and families

Hospice glossary: terms and abbreviations, defined

This glossary defines the hospice terms and abbreviations that come up in referrals, Medicare rules and quality reports, in plain words that families can use too. Each definition names its Medicare source and links to the Beta Hospice guide with the full explanation. Abbreviations are listed under their usual short form.

Medically reviewed by Oscar Chien, MD, Medical Director, November 9, 2026

On this page (27 sections)

Addendum (election statement addendum)

A written notice, titled "Patient Notification of Hospice Non-Covered Items, Services, and Drugs", that lists the conditions, items, services and drugs the hospice has decided are unrelated to the terminal illness and will not cover, with the reasons. For hospice elections on or after October 1, 2026, every patient gets it in writing within the first 5 days (42 CFR 418.24(c), (d)). See the election statement and addendum.

Attending physician

The doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant the patient names, when choosing hospice, as having the most significant role in their medical care (42 CFR 418.3). The choice is the patient's, and the hospice works with that clinician on the plan of care. See hospice for physicians.

Benefit period

Medicare covers hospice in benefit periods: two 90-day periods, then an unlimited number of 60-day periods (42 CFR 418.21). The hospice must have the patient certified as terminally ill for each period (42 CFR 418.22). See benefit periods and recertification.

BFCC-QIO (Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization)

The Medicare organization a patient or family can contact for immediate advocacy, for example when they disagree with what the hospice has decided not to cover (42 CFR 418.24(b)(7), (c)(8)). A patient who disagrees with a hospice's decision to discharge them can also ask it for a fast, expedited review (42 CFR 405.1202). See patient rights.

CAHPS Hospice Survey

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey asks a family caregiver about the hospice's care after the patient has died. Medicare publishes the results on Care Compare for hospices with 30 or more completed surveys, and small hospices can be exempt (42 CFR 418.312(e)). See hospice quality data.

CHC (continuous home care)

A hospice level of care for a brief period of crisis, when mostly nursing care is given continuously at home so the patient can stay there; it needs at least 8 hours of care in a day (42 CFR 418.204(a), 418.302). Home includes a nursing facility or assisted living where the patient lives. See continuous home care.

Election statement

The form a patient, or their representative, signs to choose Medicare hospice care. It names the hospice and the attending physician, confirms the patient understands that hospice care for the terminal illness is palliative rather than curative, and gives the effective date (42 CFR 418.24). See the election statement and addendum.

F2F (face-to-face encounter)

A visit by a hospice physician or nurse practitioner, no more than 30 days before the third benefit period and each one after it, to gather the findings that show whether the patient is still eligible (42 CFR 418.22(a)(4)). Through December 31, 2027 it can be in person or by two-way video when it is only for recertification, with some exceptions. See benefit periods and recertification.

FAST (Functional Assessment Staging Tool)

A scale that stages Alzheimer's-type dementia from 1, no difficulty, to 7f, unable to hold up the head, by the abilities lost in the order they are usually lost. The Medicare hospice LCD guidance looks for stage 7 or beyond, with all of its findings. See the FAST scale.

GIP (general inpatient care)

Short-term hospice care in an inpatient facility for pain or symptoms that cannot be managed in other settings (42 CFR 418.302(b)(4)). Beta Hospice provides it at contracted hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. See general inpatient care and the GIP criteria.

HCI (Hospice Care Index)

A Medicare quality score from 0 to 10, built from ten indicators in claims data, such as gaps in nursing visits, live discharges and visits near death. A hospice earns a point for each indicator where it meets the CMS criterion, and the score is shown on Care Compare. See the ten HCI indicators.

HOPE (Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation)

The standard patient assessment every Medicare-certified hospice records for every patient at admission, at HOPE Update Visits and at discharge. It replaced the Hospice Item Set on October 1, 2025 (CMS HOPE FAQs; 42 CFR 418.312). See the HOPE assessment.

HUV (HOPE Update Visit)

An in-person visit by a hospice registered nurse to update the HOPE assessment and the plan of care: HUV1 on days 6 to 15 and HUV2 on days 16 to 30 after the hospice election, counting the election date as day 0. A patient has only the HUVs that fall while they are on service (CMS HOPE FAQs). See HUV visits.

IDG or IDT (interdisciplinary group or team)

The hospice team that plans, provides and supervises each patient's care. It must include a physician, a registered nurse, a social worker (or a marriage and family therapist or mental health counselor) and a pastoral or other counselor, and it reviews each plan of care at least every 15 days (42 CFR 418.56). See our care team.

LCD (local coverage determination)

A coverage policy that a Medicare contractor publishes in the Medicare Coverage Database. For hospice in California it is LCD L33393, Hospice: Determining Terminal Status, from Wellpoint Federal, whose disease-specific guidelines support a prognosis of six months or less. See the eligibility guidelines.

Live discharge

Any end to a hospice stay other than the patient's death. In Medicare's Hospice Care Index it means a discharge for any reason except death or transfer to another hospice, so a patient's revocation counts (HQRP QM User's Manual v1.04). See discharge and revocation and, for families, discharged from hospice.

NOE (notice of election)

The notice a hospice files with its Medicare contractor when a patient elects hospice, due within 5 calendar days after the election's effective date (42 CFR 418.24(e)). If it is late, Medicare does not pay for the days before it was filed, and the hospice may not bill the patient for them (Claims Processing Manual, ch. 11, §20.1.1). See the election statement and addendum.

NOTR (notice of termination or revocation)

The notice a hospice files with its Medicare contractor when a patient is discharged alive or revokes hospice, due within 5 calendar days after the effective date, unless the hospice has already filed the final claim (42 CFR 418.26(e), 418.28(d)). See discharge and revocation.

Palliative care

Care focused on quality of life that anticipates, prevents and treats suffering, and addresses physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs throughout an illness (42 CFR 418.3). Hospice is palliative care for people with a prognosis of six months or less; palliative care can also come earlier. See palliative care and hospice vs. palliative care.

PPS (Palliative Performance Scale)

A scale that rates function from 100% to 0% in ten-point steps across ambulation, activity and disease, self-care, intake and consciousness. The Medicare hospice LCD guidance uses a PPS below 70%, with dependence in at least two activities of daily living, as the baseline for most diagnoses. See the PPS scale.

Respite care (inpatient respite)

Short-term inpatient care for a hospice patient, given only when needed to relieve the family or other caregivers at home, on an occasional basis and for no more than 5 days in a row (42 CFR 418.204(b)). See respite care.

Revocation

The patient's own choice to stop Medicare hospice care, made at any time with a signed statement that gives an effective date no earlier than the date it is signed (42 CFR 418.28). Regular Medicare coverage resumes, and the patient can choose hospice again later. See discharge and revocation and, for families, can you leave hospice?.

RHC (routine home care)

The everyday hospice level of care: a day on which the patient is at home and is not receiving continuous home care (42 CFR 418.302(b)(1)). Home is wherever the patient lives, including a nursing facility or assisted living. See levels of hospice care.

SIA (service intensity add-on)

An extra Medicare payment for registered nurse and social worker visits on routine home care days in the last 7 days of life, for patients who die on hospice, up to 4 hours a day at the continuous home care hourly rate (42 CFR 418.302(b)(1)). See the FY2027 hospice rates.

SSVI (Service and Spending Variation Index)

A CMS score from 0 to 16, built from nine claims-based measures of hospice use and of Medicare spending outside the hospice benefit; a higher score signals more potential concern. CMS published hospice-level scores with the FY2027 final rule (CMS-1851-F). See what the SSVI shows.

Terminal illness and prognosis

Under Medicare, terminally ill means a medical prognosis of a life expectancy of 6 months or less if the illness runs its normal course (42 CFR 418.3). A physician certifies it from clinical judgment, and certification is a prognosis, not a limit on how long hospice can last. See the eligibility guidelines and, for families, the two conditions to enroll in hospice.

Transfer (change of hospice)

A patient may change to a different hospice once in each benefit period, by filing a statement with both hospices that gives the date of the change; a transfer is not a revocation (42 CFR 418.30). See switching hospice providers.

About this page

Written by: Beta Hospice care team
Medically reviewed by: Oscar Chien, MD, Medical Director
Last reviewed: November 9, 2026
Next review: May 9, 2027

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