The following definitions and abbreviations and those found in chapter 182-500 WAC, Medical definitions, apply to this subchapter.
"Authorized health care representative" - A person who has authority under RCW 7.70.065 to provide informed consent to terminate medical care or to elect or revoke the election of hospice care on behalf of a terminally ill individual who lacks capacity.
"Biologicals" - Medicinal preparations including serum, vaccine autotoxins, and biotechnological drugs made from living organisms and their products.
"Brief period" - Six days or less within a 30 consecutive-day period.
"Community services office (CSO)" - An office of the department of social and health services (DSHS) that administers social and health services at the community level.
"Concurrent care" - Medically necessary services delivered at the same time as hospice services, providing a blend of curative and palliative services to clients 20 years of age and younger who are enrolled in hospice. See WAC 182-551-1860.
"Curative care" - Treatment aimed at achieving a disease-free state.
"Discharge" - A hospice agency ends hospice care for a client.
"Election period" - The time, 90 or 60 calendar days, that the client is certified as eligible for and chooses to receive hospice care.
"Family" - A person or people who are important to the client and need not be relatives.
"Home and community services (HCS) office" - A department of social and health services (DSHS) home and community living administration office that manages the state's comprehensive long-term care system which provides in-home, residential, and nursing home services to clients with functional disabilities.
"Hospice agency" - A person or entity administering or providing hospice services directly or through a contract arrangement to people in places of temporary or permanent residence under the direction of an interdisciplinary team composed of at least a nurse, social worker, physician, spiritual counselor, and volunteer. (Note: For the purposes of this subchapter, requirements for hospice agencies also apply to hospice care centers.)
"Hospice aide" - A person registered or certified as a nursing assistant under chapter 18.88A RCW who, under the direction and supervision of a registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist, assists in the delivery of nursing or therapy related activities, or both, to patients of a hospice agency or hospice care center.
"Hospice aide services" - Services provided by hospice aides employed by an in-home services agency licensed to provide hospice or hospice care center services under the supervision of a registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist. Such care may include ambulation and exercise, medication assistance level 1 and level 2, reporting changes in client's conditions and needs, completing appropriate records, personal care or homemaker services, and other nonmedical tasks, as defined in this section.
"Hospice care center" - A homelike noninstitutional facility where hospice services are provided that meets the requirements for operation under RCW 70.127.280 and applicable rules.
"Hospice services" - Symptom and pain management provided to a terminally ill person, and emotional, spiritual, and bereavement support for the person and their family in a place of temporary or permanent residence.
"Interdisciplinary team" - The group of people involved in client care providing hospice services or hospice care center services including, at a minimum, a physician, registered nurse, social worker, spiritual counselor, and volunteer.
"Palliative" - Medical treatment designed to reduce pain or increase comfort, rather than cure.
"Plan of care (POC)" - A written document based on assessment of client needs that identifies services to meet these needs.
"Related condition(s)" - Any health condition(s) that manifests secondary to or exacerbates symptoms associated with the progression of the condition and/or disease, the treatment being received, or the process of dying. (Examples of related conditions: Medication management of nausea and vomiting secondary to pain medication; skin breakdown prevention/treatment due to peripheral edema.)
"Residence" - A client's home or place of living.
"Revoke" or "revocation" - The choice to stop receiving hospice care.
"Terminally ill" - The client has a life expectancy of six months or less, assuming the client's disease process runs its natural course.
"24-hour day" - A day beginning and ending at midnight.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021 and 41.05.160. WSR 25-16-015, s 182-551-1010, filed 7/25/25, effective 9/1/25. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021, Section 2302 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148), and Section 1814 (a)(7) of the Social Security Act. WSR 12-09-079, § 182-551-1010, filed 4/17/12, effective 5/18/12. WSR 11-14-075, recodified as § 182-551-1010, filed 6/30/11, effective 7/1/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.09.520. WSR 05-18-033, § 388-551-1010, filed 8/30/05, effective 10/1/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.09.520, 74.08.090, 42 C.F.R. 418.22 and 418.24. WSR 99-09-007, § 388-551-1010, filed 4/9/99, effective 5/10/99.]