Frequently Asked Questions For Patient Referrals

If a patient is in hospice care or has a terminal illness, contacting MedCure to begin the registration process is the best first step. By starting early, our team can provide timely support to both patients and their families. During this call, our dedicated Donation Coordinators will guide you through the eligibility screening, review our Terms and Conditions, explain the consent form process, and outline what steps to take at the time of passing.

There are only three options that a person has in relation to their final disposition, which is Burial, Cremation or Donation.  People already know about burial and cremation.  In our experience, people do not know about body donation until someone like you tells them about it.  That is where hospice and hospital employees, funeral directors, and other end-of-life care professionals come in. If you are interested in learning more about presenting the idea of body donation to your patients or to families, you can register for one of our webinars or schedule an in-service with one of our Education Directors.

For your convenience, MedCure’s consent form is available for download on our website. You can also request to receive the form by fax, email, or mail. If you need assistance completing the form, our team is here to help—just give us a call, and we’ll guide you through each step. Please note that due to regulatory updates, our consent form is frequently revised. To ensure accuracy, we recommend always printing the latest version directly from our website before sharing it with patients or families.

If someone holds a Health Care Power of Attorney (HPOA) or similar authorization to make decisions on behalf of a patient, they may sign the consent forms prior to the patient’s passing. However, we request that the HPOA document be sent to us for review beforehand, allowing us to confirm it meets the requirements for donation authorization.

In cases where no HPOA is in place, the patient’s legal Next of Kin may sign the consent forms, but only after the patient has passed. This ensures compliance with our consent process and respects the patient’s final wishes.

Most people who wish to donate are eligible. MedCure has no upper age restrictions and can accept donations from individuals with a wide variety of medical conditions. The most common reasons for a decline include a diagnosis of certain communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS,  hepatitis B or C, history of intravenous (IV) drug use, recent prolonged incarceration, institutionalization, or homelessness, and being severely over or under weight at the time of passing. MedCure accepts donors from most states within the continental United States. 

Once a patient is registered with MedCure, our Donation Coordinators will notify the medical facility to inform them of the patient’s donor status. We will then send a MedCure Donor Flyer via fax or email, which can be added to the patient’s chart. This flyer provides the medical staff with clear instructions for the time of passing, ensuring a smooth and respectful donation process.

Since MedCure is a for-profit organization, we can’t accept financial donations. However, there are several non-profit organizations and charities out there that accept financial donations to help support medical research. 

MedCure can provide donor families with a letter containing general information about the types of research and/or educational programs that their loved one’s donation has benefited. Unfortunately, we MedCure cannot guarantee matching a donation with a specific type of research or organization. Placement largely depends on current medical research and training needs at the time of one’s passing. Also, since there is no autopsy performed as part of the donation process, we are unable to provide information regarding diagnoses or cause of death in these letters.

It does take some time for us to gather all of this information from the researchers and educators that we work with, so please be advised that this letter can take between 8 – 12 months to be sent to the family. If a donor family is interested in receiving this letter, they can call our Donation Coordination team any time after their loved one’s passing to request it over the phone.

After completing the eligibility screening at the time of passing, MedCure will make arrangements for transportation and care. MedCure covers transportation expenses once acceptance is determined at time of final transportation to a MedCure facility. Donor families are encouraged to not contact a funeral home themselves at the time of passing. 

Once a MedCure donor is accepted at the time of final transportation, all donation-related expenses will be covered. These include transportation arrangements, one certified copy of the death certificate, cremation, and either the return of the cremated remains to the family or placement in an ossuary. 

Families typically receive the death certificate within 8 to 12 weeks, depending upon which county or state is processing the DC. Cremated remains are sent to the family within an average of about 5 months after the time of passing. 

Open casket funerals are not possible with whole body donation. However, many families choose to hold a memorial service after they receive cremated remains.