Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) and Hospice

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The Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)1 can inform decisions about a patient’s hospice eligibility by helping clinicians recognize a patient's functional decline.

For oncology patients, a PPS score of 70% or below may indicate hospice eligibility.

For most other disease types, a patient with a PPS score of 50% or below may be hospice-eligible. A general way to determine this is to ask yourself: “Does the patient with advanced illness spend more than 50% of their waking hours resting (sitting and lying)?”

Please note that this calculator is an approximation of PPS and does not substitute clinical judgment.

Palliative Performance Scale

Use this tool to recognize functional decline quickly and inform decisions about your patient's eligibility.



Ambulation

Slide to see PPS Rating

Activity

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Evidence of Disease

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Self Care

Slide to see PPS Rating

Intake

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Level of Consciousness

Slide to see PPS Rating



VITAS also uses the PPS to assess patients’ functional status and collaboratively establish palliative care plans. We provide palliative solutions for a hospice-eligible patient’s symptoms, including pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual symptoms.

All interventions focus on enhancing the patient's overall comfort and quality of life near the end of life.

The VITAS app features an interactive PPS calculator. Download now.

1Source: Anderson F, Downing GM, Hill J, et al: PPS: A new tool. J Palliative Care 12(1):5, 1996.

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