Hospice Admission Practices: Where Does Hospice Fit in the Continuum of Care?

Nonprofit behavior altered by monetary donations: evidence from the U.S. hospice industry

This study investigates whether reliance on monetary donations alters nonprofit firms' behaviors. Specifically, in the hospice industry, a shorter patients' length of stay (LOS) speeds up overall patient turnover, allowing a hospice to serve more patients and expand its donation network. We measure hospices' donation reliance using the donation-revenue ratio, which indicates the importance of donations for revenue structure. By exploiting the supply shifter of donation, we adopt the number of donors as an instrument to control for the potential endogeneity issue. Our result suggests that a one-percentage-point increase in the donation-revenue ratio decreases patient LOS by 8%. Hospices that are more reliant on donations serve patients diagnosed with diseases that have shorter life expectancies to achieve a lower average LOS of all patients' stay. Overall, we find that monetary donations alter the behavior of nonprofit organizations.

Barriers of Acceptance to Hospice Care: a Randomized Vignette-Based Experiment

BACKGROUND

The per diem financial structure of hospice care may lead agencies to consider patient-level factors when weighing admissions.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate if treatment cost, disease complexity, and diagnosis are associated with hospice willingness to accept patients.

DESIGN

In this 2019 online survey study, individuals involved in hospice admissions decisions were randomized to view one of six hypothetical patient vignettes: "high-cost, high-complexity," "low-cost, high-complexity," and "low-cost, low-complexity" within two diseases: heart failure and cystic fibrosis. Vignettes included demographics, prognoses, goals, and medications with costs. Respondents indicated their perceived likelihood of acceptance to their hospice; if likelihood was <100%, respondents were asked the barriers to acceptance. We used bivariate tests to examine associations between demographic, clinical, and organizational factors and likelihood of acceptance.

PARTICIPANTS

Individuals involved in hospice admissions decisions MAIN MEASURES: Likelihood of acceptance to hospice care KEY RESULTS: N=495 (76% female, 53% age 45-64). Likelihoods of acceptance in cystic fibrosis were 79.8% (high-cost, high-complexity), 92.4% (low-cost, high-complexity), and 91.5% (low-cost, low-complexity), and in heart failure were 65.9% (high-cost, high-complexity), 87.3% (low-cost, high-complexity), and 96.6% (low-cost, low-complexity). For both heart failure and cystic fibrosis, respondents were less likely to accept the high-cost, high-complexity patient than the low-cost, high-complexity patient (65.9% vs. 87.3%, 79.8% vs. 92.4%, both p<0.001). For heart failure, respondents were less likely to accept the low-cost, high-complexity patient than the low-cost, low-complexity patient (87.3% vs. 96.6%, p=0.004). Treatment cost was the most common barrier for 5 of 6 vignettes.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that patients receiving expensive and/or complex treatments for palliation may have difficulty accessing hospice.

Local Area Hospice Capacity and Rural Disparities in Hospice Use among Older Adults with Metastatic Breast Cancer

Background: Little is known about how local area hospice capacity and staffing levels impact hospice use in urban versus rural areas. Objectives: To examine the association between local hospice capacity and staffing levels and hospice use in the context of rural disparities in hospice use, among a sample of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Design: A retrospective cohort study using Surveillance Epidemiology End-Results (SEER)-Medicare linked data 2000-2010, Medicare Provider of Service files, and Census 2000 U.S. Zip Code Tabulation Areas files. Setting: Use of Medicare-certified hospice programs among older adults with metastatic breast cancer residing in one of the SEER program cancer registries designated by National Cancer Institute in the United States. Measurements: Measurements of geographic access to hospices include urban/rural characteristics of patient residence and driving time from the nearest Medicare-certified hospice headquarter. Measurements of local-area hospice capacity and staffing levels include per capita number of Medicare-certified hospice programs and full-time employees among older adults within a predefined radius. Results: Among the study population (N = 5418), remote and suburban areas were negatively associated with hospice use. Lower hospice use in remote and suburban areas was associated with fewer per capita number of Medicare-certified hospice program employees in local areas ≥70-minute driving radius (p = 0.0042), while per capita number of Medicare-certified hospice programs in local areas showed no impact. Conclusion: For older patients with metastatic breast cancer, availability of hospice staff, rather than driving distance or the number of hospice agencies, may limit hospice use in remote and suburban areas.

Latino Families' Decisions to Accept Hospice Care

OBJECTIVES

The underrepresentation of Latinos in hospice care is well-documented. A gap remains, however, in the literature's description of the factors that shape Latino families' decisions to enroll in hospice care. The need for such understanding is dire considering the shifts in population and the research evidence that Latinos experience worse end-of-life outcomes compared to non-Latino whites. This study contributes to such understanding by exploring Latino older adults' experiences with healthcare broadly and reasons for choosing hospice care specifically, including how they learned about hospice and their understanding of the service at the time of enrollment.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 hospice-enrolled Latinos 65 or older, or their decision-making proxies. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Findings show that hospice represents a way to access services, and not necessarily a philosophy of care that Latinos understand or seek at end of life.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare providers such as hospital and hospice social workers must engage in efforts to enhance advance care planning discussions and hospice education with the Latino community.

Hospice inpatient services provision, utilization, and financial performance

BACKGROUND

Hospice performance is an overlooked area in the health care field due to the difficulty of measuring quality of care and the infrequent quality inspection. Based on the daily reimbursement mechanism for different levels of hospice care, inpatient services provision could influence both hospice-level length of stay (LOS) and financial performance.

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between hospice inpatient services provision and hospice utilization and financial performance.

METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A longitudinal secondary data set (2009-2013) was merged from three sources: (a) Hospice Cost Reports from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, (b) the Provider of Services files, and (c) the Area Health Resources Files. The dependent variable in this study was hospice average LOS and financial performance measured by total operating margin (TOM) and return on assets. The independent variable was hospice inpatient services' offering. Mixed-effects regression models were used in the multivariate regression analyses.

RESULTS

When comparing to hospices not providing inpatient services, offering inpatient services by staff was negatively related to average LOS (b = -0.063, p < .05) and TOM (b = -0.022, p < .05). The combination method with providing inpatient services by staff and under arrangement was negatively associated with return on assets (b = -0.073, p < .05).

CONCLUSION

Hospice inpatient services provision was associated with average LOS and financial performance.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Offering the inpatient services to patients by staff decreased average LOS and TOM. Hospice agencies may seek strategies to maintain their financial sustainability through outsourcing.

Systematic review of the hospice performance literature

BACKGROUND

Hospice is the key provider of end-of-life care to patients. As the number of U.S. hospice agencies has rapidly increased, the performance has been scrutinized more deeply.

PURPOSE

To foster understanding of how hospice performance is measured and what factors are associated with performance, we conducted a systematic review of empirical research on hospice performance in the United States.

METHODS

Both structure-process-outcome and structure-conduct-performance frameworks were applied to categorize and summarize the hospice performance literature. A total of 36 studies were included in the systematic review.

RESULTS

Hospice agencies adopted different strategies (e.g., service provision strategy and staffing strategy) to improve performance. Two strategic approaches (innovation and volunteer usage) were associated with better outcomes. Hospice organizational factors, market environment, and patient characteristics were related to hospice strategic conduct and performance. Majority of hospice performance studies have examined the relationship between hospice structure and strategic conduct/process, with fewer studies focusing on structure performance and even fewer concentrating on strategy performance.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Patient, organizational, and market factors are associated with hospice strategic conduct and performance. The majority of the literature considered the impact of hospice organizational characteristics, whereas only a few studies included patient and market factors. The summarization of factors that may influence hospice performance provides insight to different stakeholders.

Factors Associated with Medical Cost among Patients with Terminal Cancer in Hospice Units

This study identified factors associated with higher medical costs for patients with terminal cancer in hospice units in order to develop a daily payment system for hospice services within Korea's National Health Insurance (NHI) program. Through chart reviews conducted by staff nurses, medical information and costs were obtained for 274 patients with terminal cancer in 20 hospice units in October 2007. The daily medical cost per patient was calculated based on the fee-for-service scheme. The characteristics of the hospice units were examined by means of a semi-structured questionnaire administered to hospice unit coordinators. Higher daily costs were associated with general hospital-based hospice units (as compared with free-standing units: p<0.01), low Palliative Performance Scale scores (PPS<50, p<0.05), and the presence of fever (p<0.01). In multivariate analysis, hospice unit type was found to be the factor most strongly associated with medical cost. A hospice payment system based on patient characteristics should be thoroughly considered.

Predicting Length of Hospice Stay: An Application of Quantile Regression

BACKGROUND

Use of the Medicare hospice benefit has been associated with high-quality care at the end of life, and hospice length of use in particular has been used as a proxy for appropriate timing of hospice enrollment. Quantile regression has been underutilized as an alternative tool to model distributional changes in hospice length of use and hospice payments outside of the mean.

OBJECTIVE

To test for heterogeneity in the relationship between patient characteristics and hospice outcomes across the distribution of hospice days.

SETTING

Medicare Beneficiary Summary File and survey data (2014) for hospice beneficiaries in North and South Carolina with common terminal diagnoses.

MEASUREMENTS

Distributional shifts associated with patient characteristics were evaluated at the 25th and 75th percentiles of hospice days and hospice payments using quantile regressions and compared to the mean shift estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS) regression.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Significant (p < 0.001) heterogeneity in the marginal effects on hospice days and costs was observed, with patient characteristics associated with generally larger shifts in the 75th percentile than the 25th percentile. Mean effects estimated by OLS regression overestimate the magnitude of the median marginal effects for all patient characteristics except for race. Results for hospice payments in 2014 were similar.

CONCLUSIONS

Methodological decisions can have a meaningful impact in the evaluation of factors influencing hospice length of use or cost.

Bridging the Continuum: Nutrition Support in Palliative and Hospice Care

Clinicians and patients in today's technically focused healthcare environment are often faced with decisions of what should be done vs what could be done. The decision to provide or not provide nutrition support during palliative care and hospice care requires an understanding of and respect for patient wishes, an appreciation for the expectations of the patient and family, and open and effective communication. There can be confusion and disagreement concerning what nutrition therapies should be continued and which ones stopped. These decisions can be facilitated by answering the question: When do the burdens of nutrition support outweigh the benefit to the patient? The patient, family members, and healthcare providers should openly discuss and agree upon the goals of nutrition support during palliative care and hospice care.

Operational and Financial Performance of Newly Established Hospices

The objective of the study was to examine the financial and operating performance of newly established, free- standing hospices relative to existing, freestanding hospices. A nonparametric median test was used to compare the median values of operating and financial performance measures between newly established hospices and existing hospices. Operating and financial data were measured for the 2 groups using cost report data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The authors sampled 44 new, freestanding hospices and selected 312 freestanding existing hospices and analyzed their data over 2 years from 2002 to 2003. The study found that 91% of these new hospices were owned by for-profit organizations and were located in the southern region of the United States. New hospices served fewer patients; however, they had a longer length of stay compared to existing hospices. They offered fewer imaging services and radiation therapy services. New hospices generated significantly higher revenue but incurred significantly higher expenses. The results suggest that longer lengths of stay allow these newer hospices to increase revenue and improve overall profitability.

Are Trends in Hospitalization Prior to Hospice Use Associated With Hospice Episode Characteristics?

This study expands current knowledge of factors associated with initiation of hospice care by examining prehospice patterns of medical care leading to Medicare hospice use and the relationships to hospice episode characteristics. Data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study cohort offer the ability to control for measures that are not available in Medicare claims data, including marital status, nursing home residency, and education. For 1248 ARIC participants who used hospice (2006-2012), participant level trends in the number of hospital days per 30-day period over the year prior to hospice initiation were generated using a fixed-effects model. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations between increasing hospital use over the year prior to hospice enrollment with key patient characteristics (diagnosis, age, and comorbidity) and episode characteristics (short hospice stay ending in death, long hospice stay, and live discharge). Participants with severe comorbidity (measured as a Charlson comorbidity index score greater than 5) had higher odds of increasing hospital use prior to hospice (odds ratio [OR] = 3.28, confidence interval [CI] = 2.25-4.78). Increasing hospital use did not vary by diagnosis but was associated with reduced odds of a live hospice discharge (OR = 0.55, CI = 0.34-0.88) or long stay in hospice (OR = 0.44, CI = 0.24-0.79) and increased odds of a short stay in hospice (OR = 1.92, CI = 1.36-2.71). The evidence that care patterns prior to hospice use are associated with hospice outcomes could facilitate development of interventions to improve timely hospice referral.

Are Hospice Admission Practices Associated With Hospice Enrollment for Older African Americans and Whites?

CONTEXT

Hospices that enroll patients receiving expensive palliative therapies may serve more African Americans because of their greater preferences for aggressive end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVES

Examine the association between hospices' admission practices and enrollment of African Americans and whites.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of 61 North and South Carolina hospices. We developed a hospice admission practices scale; higher scores indicate less restrictive practices, that is, greater frequency with which hospices admitted those receiving chemotherapy, inotropes, and so forth. In separate multivariate analyses for each racial group, we examined the relationship between the proportion of decedents (age ≥ 65) served by a hospice in their service area (2008 Medicare Data) and admission practices while controlling for health care resources (e.g., hospital beds) and market concentration in the area, ownership, and budget.

RESULTS

Nonprofit hospices and those with larger budgets reported less restrictive admission practices. In bivariate analyses, hospices with less restrictive admission practices served a larger proportion of patients in both racial groups (P < 0.001). However, in the multivariate models, nonprofit ownership and larger budgets but not admission practices predicted the outcome.

CONCLUSION

Hospices with larger budgets served a greater proportion of African Americans and whites in their service area. Although larger hospices reported less restrictive admission practices, they also may have provided other services that may be important to patients regardless of race, such as more in-home support or assistance with nonmedical expenses, and participated in more outreach activities increasing their visibility and referral base. Future research should explore factors that influence decisions about hospice enrollment among racially diverse older adults.

Viewing Hospice Decision Making as a Process

Research focused on understanding that the nature of hospice decision making has both described the characteristics of those who do and do not utilize hospice and identified many factors related to choosing hospice. However, this literature has not explored the underlying decision-making processes, limiting our understanding. We examine the extant literature and propose a framework that views hospice decisions as an evolving process, identify key factors that bear directly on this process, and discuss the contextual environment, including the idea of a decision maker triad. We end with a discussion of how this framework can be used to support clinical practice and future research. Our goal is to provide a framework from which to understand the end-of-life needs of all patients, no matter where they receive care.

Impact of anticholinergic load of medications on the length of stay of cancer patients in hospice care

OBJECTIVES

An important goal of hospice care is to relieve pain and suffering of terminal cancer patients. Anticholinergic medications are effective in the symptom palliation among terminal cancer patients. However, use of these medications has been associated with increased risk of side effects, which might lead to premature mortality. Short lengths of stay in hospice care leave patients with a higher level of unmet needs. The study was conducted to examine the effect of increasing anticholinergic load on the length of stay of cancer patients in hospice care in the USA.

METHODS

The National Home and Hospice Care Survey 2007 was used as the data source. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the risk of death among users of moderate and high anticholinergic load compared with users of low anticholinergic load in presence of other prognostic factors.

KEY FINDINGS

Cancer patients on a moderate anticholinergic load had a 12.7% lower hazard of death (P = 0.0244), while those on a high anticholinergic load had a 15.6% lower hazard of death (P = 0.0071) as compared with those patients on a low anticholinergic load. Among other prognostic factors, non-elderly age group, male gender, white race, metropolitan hospice agency, non-profit hospice agency, severe activities of daily living dependency and cognitive impairment were significantly associated with a higher probability of death.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide no evidence for increasing anticholinergic load increasing mortality in cancer patients using hospice care. Thus, high anticholinergic load might have conferred a protective effect on the patients because of better symptom control.

Hospices' enrollment policies may contribute to underuse of hospice care in the United States

Hospice use in the United States is growing, but little is known about barriers that terminally ill patients may face when trying to access hospice care. This article reports the results of the first national survey of the enrollment policies of 591 US hospices. The survey revealed that 78 percent of hospices had at least one enrollment policy that may restrict access to care for patients with potentially high-cost medical care needs, such as chemotherapy or total parenteral nutrition. Smaller hospices, for-profit hospices, and hospices in certain regions of the country consistently reported more limited enrollment policies. We observe that hospice providers' own enrollment decisions may be an important contributor to previously observed underuse of hospice by patients and families. Policy changes that should be considered include increasing the Medicare hospice per diem rate for patients with complex needs, which could enable more hospices to expand enrollment.

Hospice for nursing home residents: does ownership type matter?

BACKGROUND

Currently, more than half of all nursing home residents use hospice at some point. Studies have shown benefits to hospice enrollment for patients; however, the literature on ownership differences in hospice care in general has indicated that for-profit hospices offer a narrower scope of services and employ fewer professional staff. Although nursing home staffing patterns have been shown to be essential to quality of care, the literature has not explored differences in number of patients per staff member for hospice care within nursing homes.

METHODS

We hypothesized that for-profit hospices would have a higher number of patients per staff member for home care workers (HCWs), registered nurses (RNs), and medical social workers (MSWs), and this relationship would be moderated by the proportion of hospice users living in nursing homes. Using data from the National Hospice Survey, a random sampling of all Medicare-certified hospices operating between September 2008 and November 2009, we identified 509 hospices that served individuals living in a nursing home, with 89 hospices having 50% or greater of their clients living in a nursing home.

RESULTS

Adjusted analysis indicated a higher number of patients per staff member for HCWs and RNs among for-profit hospices. Moreover, compared with nonprofit hospices, for-profit hospices with a high proportion of nursing home residents had 36 more patients per HCW (p=0.011) and 24 more patients per RN (p=0.033).

CONCLUSIONS

Staffing is an important indicator of hospice quality, thus our findings may be useful for anticipating potential impacts of the growth in for-profit hospice on nursing home residents.

Factors associated with the provision of hospice care for children

CONTEXT

Children at the end of life often lack access to hospice care at home or in a dedicated facility. The factors that may influence whether or not hospices provide pediatric care are relatively unknown.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to understand the institutional and resource factors associated with provision of pediatric hospice care.

METHODS

This study used a retrospective, longitudinal design. The main data source was the 2002 to 2008 California State Hospice Utilization Data Files. The sample size was 311 hospices or 1368 hospice observations over seven years. Drawing on institutional and resource dependence theory, this study used generalized estimating equations to examine the institutional and resource factors associated with provision of pediatric hospice care. Interaction terms were included to assess the moderating effect of resource factors on the relationship between institutional factors and provision of care.

RESULTS

Membership in professional groups increased the probability (19%) of offering hospice services for children. Small- (-22%) and medium-sized (-11%) hospices were less likely to provide care for children. The probability of providing pediatric hospice care diminished (-23%) when competition increased in the prior year. Additionally, small size attenuated the accreditation-provision relationship and medium size magnified the membership-provision relationship.

CONCLUSION

Professional membership may promote conformity to industry standards of pediatric care and remove the unknowns of providing hospice care for children. Hospices, especially medium-sized hospices, interested in developing or expanding care for children may benefit by identifying a pediatric champion to join a professional group.

Stress variances among informal hospice caregivers

Care interventions are not routinely provided for hospice caregivers, despite widespread documentation of the burden and toll of the caregiving experience. Assessing caregivers for team interventions (ACT) proposes that holistic patient and family care includes ongoing caregiver needs assessment of primary, secondary, and intrapsychic stressors. In this study, our goal was to describe the variance in stressors for caregivers to establish evidence for the ACT theoretical framework. We used secondary interview data from a randomized controlled trial to analyze hospice caregiver discussions about concerns. We found variances in stress types, suggesting that caregiver interventions should range from knowledge and skill building to cognitive-behavioral interventions that aid in coping. Family members who assume the role of primary caregiver for a dying loved one need to be routinely assessed by hospice providers for customized interventions.

Caring for grieving family members: results from a national hospice survey

BACKGROUND

A founding principle of hospice is that the patient and family is the unit of care; however, we lack national information on services to family members. Although Medicare certification requires bereavement services be provided, reimbursement rates are not tied to the level or quality of care; therefore, limited financial incentives exist for hospice to provide more than a minimal benefit.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the scope and intensity of services provided to family members by hospice.

RESEARCH DESIGN

We fielded a national survey of hospices between September 2008 and November 2009.

PARTICIPANTS

A national sample of US hospices with an 84% response rate (N=591).

MEASURES

Bereavement services to the family, bereavement services to the community, labor-intensive family services, and comprehensive family services.

RESULTS

Most hospices provided bereavement services to the family (78%) and to the community (76%), but only a minority of hospices provided labor-intensive (23%) or comprehensive (27%) services to grieving family members. Larger hospice size was positively and significantly associated with each of the 4 measures of family services. We found no significant difference in provision of bereavement services to the family, labor-intensive services, or comprehensive services by ownership type; however, nonprofit hospices were more likely than for-profit hospices to provide bereavement services to the community.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show substantial diversity in the scope and intensity of services provided to families of patients with terminal illnesses, suggesting a need for clearer guidance on what hospices should provide to exemplify best practices. Consensus within the field on more precise guidelines in this area is essential.

Straddling the fence: ICU nurses advocating for hospice care

A key factor in nurses' experiencing moral distress is their feeling of powerlessness to initiate discussions about code status, EOL issues, or patients' preferences. Moreover, nurses encounter physicians who give patients and their families a false picture of recovery or, worse, block EOL discussions from occurring. Since its release in 1995, the landmark study of almost 10,000 patients in the Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatments (SUPPORT) reported a widespread gap with physicians' discussions in honest prognosis and EOL issues. Since the SUPPORT report, other studies have validated patients' and their families' preference for realistic discussions of disease trajectory and life expectancy. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of physicians failing to discuss bad news or terminal disease trajectory persists. Moreover, with a burgeoning geriatric population, coupled with advances in medical treatments, a growing segment of chronically ill patients are admitted to the ICU. With these communication shortcomings, it becomes an essential element of practice for the ICU nurse to initiate discussions about healthcare goals, preferences, and choices. The ICU nurse must be integral in fostering those discussions, particularly in cases where the family asks if hospice should be considered. Nurses have a long history of patient advocacy, with both the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses stating that nurses have a duty to educate and promote dialogue about patients' preferences, goals, and EOL issues. With these tenets in the forefront, the ICU nurse is an integral member of the healthcare team, working with patients and their families to distinguish between what can be done and what should be done. Too often, hospice is thought of as a last resort. Rather, it is a model of care that centers on the belief that each of us has the right to die pain free and with dignity, and that our families will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so. Despite the high satisfaction reported by decedents of hospice enrollees, 35% of all hospice patients die within 7 days of enrollment owing to late referrals. An ICU stay presents the perfect opportunity to weave EOL care planning into the fabric of everyday patient care. Clearly, the ICU setting cares for the very sickest patients, and knowing what patients and families desire must take precedence in all treatment decisions. The ICU nurse should be proficient in communication skills, using evidence-based communication related to functional status, performance scales, disease trajectory, and prognosis. ICU nurses recognize that not every patient survives their ICU stay; yet, for those patients who will not survive, every ICU nurse wants their patient to experience a "good death." Hospice and the palliative care are important aspects of our care continuum and should not be ignored until the last days or hours of a patient's life. Recognizing eligibility for hospice and its alignment with patient EOL preferences can result in optimal EOL care.

Trends in services among pediatric hospice providers during 2002 to 2008

The medical complexities involved in caring for children at end of life have increased during the past few decades. This study sought to understand what hospice services were offered for these children and to examine service trends among pediatric hospice providers over a 7-year (2002-2008) timeframe. The number of core hospice services diminished in 2003 (IRR = 0.873, 95% CI [0.795,0.971]) and 2004 (IRR = 0.889, 95% CI [0.793, 0.995]); however, by 2008 there was an increase in offering core (IRR = 1.130, 95% CI [1.038,1.230]), noncore (IRR = 1.117, 95% CI [1.013,1.231]), and other hospice (IRR = 1.117, 95% CI [1.005,1.583]) services among pediatric providers. These findings highlight the importance of family-clinician communication about needed services prior to admitting children to hospice care.

Hospice decision making: diagnosis makes a difference

PURPOSE

This study explored the process of decision making about hospice enrollment and identified factors that influence the timing of that decision.

METHODS

This study employed an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional design and was conducted using qualitative methods. In-depth in-person semistructured interviews were conducted with 36 hospice patients and 55 caregivers after 2 weeks of hospice care. The study was guided by Janis and Mann's conflict theory model (CTM) of decision making. Qualitative data analysis involved a directed content analysis using concepts from the CTM.

RESULTS

A model of hospice enrollment decision making is presented. Concepts from the CTM (appraisal, surveying and weighing the alternatives, deliberations, adherence) were used as an organizing framework to illustrate the dynamics. Distinct differences were found by diagnosis (cancer vs. other chronic illness, e.g., heart and lung diseases) during the pre-encounter phase or before the hospice referral but no differences emerged during the post-encounter phase.

IMPLICATIONS

Differences in decision making by diagnosis suggest the need for research about effective means for tailored communication in end-of-life decision making by type of illness. Recognition that decision making about hospice admission varies is important for clinicians who aim to provide person-centered and family-focused care.

Quality of palliative care at US hospices: results of a national survey

BACKGROUND

The National Quality Forum (NQF) identified hospice services as a national priority area for health care quality improvement and endorsed a set of preferred practices for quality palliative and hospice care. This study reports the first national data regarding hospices' self-reported implementation of the NQF preferred practices and identifies hospice characteristics associated with more comprehensive implementation.

METHODS

We conducted a national cross-sectional survey of a random sample of hospices (n=591; response rate, 84%) from September 2008 to November 2009. We evaluated the reported implementation of NQF preferred practices in the care of both patients and families.

RESULTS

The range of reported implementation of individual NQF preferred practices among hospices was 45% to 97%. Twenty-one percent of hospices reported having implemented all patient-centered preferred practices, 26% all family-centered preferred practices, and 10% all patient and family-centered preferred practices. In adjusted analyses, large hospices (100 or more patients per day) were significantly more likely than small hospices (<20 patients per day) to report having implemented all patient-centered preferred practices [odds ratio (OR)=2.46; 95% CI, 1.24, 4.90] and all family-centered preferred practices (OR=1.88; 95% CI, 1.02, 3.45). Similarly, chain-affiliated hospices were significantly more likely than free-standing hospices to report having implemented all patient-centered preferred practices (OR=2.45; 95% CI, 1.23, 4.87) and all family-centered preferred practices (OR=1.85; 95% CI, 1.01, 3.41).

CONCLUSIONS

Hospices' reported implementation of individual preferred practices for palliative and hospice care quality was high; however, reported comprehensive implementation of preferred practices was rare and may be difficult to achieve for small, free-standing hospices.

The shift to early palliative care: a typology of illness journeys and the role of nursing

For the current study, clinical observations of communication between patients, families, and clinicians during chronic, serious, or terminal illness in a cancer care trajectory were examined for patterns and trends. Five communication characteristics were concluded, which informed a typology of illness journeys experienced by patients with cancer and their families. The isolated journey characterizes an illness path in which communication about terminal prognosis and end-of-life care options are not present; communication is restricted by a curative-only approach to diagnosis as well as the structure of medical care. The rescued journey signifies a transition between curative care (hospital narrative) to noncurative care (hospice narrative), challenging patients and their families with an awareness of dying. The rescued journey allows communication about prognosis and care options, establishes productive experiences through open awareness, and affords patients and families opportunities to experience end-of-life care preferences. Finally, palliative care prior to hospice provides patients and families with an illness journey more readily characterized by open awareness and community, which facilitates a comforted journey. Nurses play a pivotal role in communicating about disease progression and plans of care. The typology presented can inform a structured communication curriculum for nurses and assist in the implementation of early palliative care.

Navigation and palliative care

Patient navigation represents an opportunity to further the integration of palliative care with standard cancer care. This article defines palliative and hospice care and describes some of the current challenges of integrating palliative care into other forms of care. It also considers outcomes that navigation might be expected to improve for patients receiving palliative care or enrolled in hospice. These outcomes include symptom relief; communication efficacy; transitions of care; and access to palliative care, hospice, and bereavement care for families. Although these outcomes may not have been specifically assessed in patients in cancer navigation programs, they represent important outcomes for patients receiving palliative care and their families. It is recognized that the types of outcomes that are important to track for patients and families receiving palliative care should be consistent with outcomes at other stages of illness.

The Intersection of Long-Term Care and End-of-Life Care

High-quality end-of-life care is an important component of high-quality long-term care, yet many elderly individuals receiving long-term care services do not obtain good care as they approach death. This study provides a systematic review of articles that describe care received at the nexus of long-term care and end-of-life care. The articles identified three primary types of barriers to high-quality end-of-life care in long-term care settings: delivery system barriers intrinsic to long-term care settings, barriers related to features of coverage and reimbursement, and barriers resulting from the current regulatory approach for long-term care providers. The authors recommend areas for future research that would help to support progress on public policy that governs the provision of care at this important intersection.

Geographic access to hospice in the United States

BACKGROUND

Despite a 41% increase in the number of hospices since 2000, more than 60% of Americans die without hospice care. Given that hospice care is predominantly home based, proximity to a hospice is important in ensuring access to hospice services. We estimated the proportion of the population living in communities within 30 and 60 minutes driving time of a hospice.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of geographic access to U.S. hospices using the 2008 Medicare Provider of Services data, U.S. Census data, and ArcGIS software. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify gaps in hospice availability by community characteristics.

RESULTS

As of 2008, 88% of the population lived in communities within 30 minutes and 98% lived in communities within 60 minutes of a hospice. Mean time to the nearest hospice was 15 minutes and the range was 0 to 403 minutes. Community characteristics independently associated with greater geographic access to hospice included higher population density, higher median income, higher educational attainment, higher percentage of black residents, and the state not having a Certificate of Need policy. The percentage of each state's population living in communities more than 30 minutes from a hospice ranged from 0% to 48%.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent growth in the hospice industry has resulted in widespread geographic access to hospice care in the United States, although state and community level variation exists. Future research regarding variation and disparities in hospice use should focus on barriers other than geographic proximity to a hospice.

Barriers to hospice care in Alabama: provider-based perceptions

Few studies have evaluated barriers to hospice from a hospice provider perspective. We assessed such views via a postal survey to all licensed hospices in Alabama (N = 193)-response = 55.4%. Most providers considered physicians and health care professionals to be somewhat knowledgeable of hospice, but also indicated a lack of knowledge constituted the barrier with the most impact in their communities. Respondents also cited physician difficulties with discussing end of life with patients and prognosticating death within 6 months as leading barriers. Providers also described Medicare reimbursement cap issues that have resulted in barriers to hospice. Our findings were similar to previous investigations assessing provider perceptions. Future studies should explore how reimbursement cap issues affect the receipt and delivery of hospice care.

Is a home-care network necessary to access the Medicare hospice benefit?

OBJECTIVE

To test whether the presence of an informal or formal care network in the home leads to different hospice utilization patterns near death. To examine how the informal care relationship affects hospice use patterns.

DATA SOURCES

Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), 1997-2001.

STUDY DESIGN

Using logistic regression and ordinary least squares, we examine the association between a person's in-home network of care and the use of Medicare hospice services in the last year of life. We also examine whether the care-dyad relationship is associated with different hospice use patterns.

DATA EXTRACTION

All individuals in the MCBS who lived at home at the time of the interview and who died between 1998 and 2001, 1404 persons.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

People receiving formal home care had a much higher chance of enrolling in hospice prior to death. Informal care did not influence the likelihood of hospice but was associated with longer use among hospice users. Daughter caregivers increased the likelihood and duration of hospice use whereas sons significantly decreased the likelihood.

CONCLUSIONS

Because formal care is associated with increased use of hospice, future work should examine whether patients without an in-home network faced access barriers. Caregiver relationships had large effects on length of hospice stays, yet we do not know whether changes moved a patient closer to or further away from their optimum use of the benefit.

Providing hospice care to children and young adults: A descriptive study of end-of-life organizations

Over the past two decades, end-of-life organizations have served an increasing number of children and young adults and expanded services important to terminally ill youth, and yet we know little about these organizations. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of end-of-life care organizations that admitted children and young adults to hospice care. Using data from the 2007 National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Survey, we conducted a descriptive analysis of operational, mission, market, and financial characteristics, and explored a sub-analysis by age group. Our analysis revealed that these organizations had similar profit status, ownership, and payer mix when compared to the hospice industry. However, they differed in agency type, referrals, organizational size, geographic location, team member caseload, and revenues. We also found important differences in organizations that provided hospice care by age groups (infants, toddler, school-age children, and adolescents/young adults) in geographic location, region, agency type, accreditation, and team member caseload. These findings have managerial and policy implications.

Use of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm program in the hospice setting

BACKGROUND

The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Paradigm Program was designed to ensure the full range of patient treatment preferences are honored throughout the health care system. Data are lacking about the use of POLST in the hospice setting.

OBJECTIVE

To assess use of the POLST by hospice programs, attitudes of hospice personnel toward POLST, the effect of POLST on the use of life-sustaining treatments, and the types of treatments options selected by hospice patients.

DESIGN

A telephone survey was conducted of all hospice programs in three states (Oregon, Wisconsin, and West Virginia) to assess POLST use. Staff at hospices reporting POLST use (n = 71) were asked additional questions about their attitudes toward the POLST. Chart reviews were conducted at a subsample of POLST-using programs in Oregon (n = 8), West Virginia (n = 5), and Wisconsin (n = 2).

RESULTS

The POLST is used widely in hospices in Oregon (100%) and West Virginia (85%) but only regionally in Wisconsin (6%). A majority of hospice staff interviewed believe the POLST is useful at preventing unwanted resuscitation (97%) and at initiating conversations about treatment preferences (96%). Preferences for treatment limitations were respected in 98% of cases and no one received unwanted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), intubation, intensive care, or feeding tubes. A majority of hospice patients (78%) with do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders wanted more than the lowest level of treatment in at least one other category such as antibiotics or hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS

The POLST is viewed by hospice personnel as useful, helpful, and reliable. It is effective at ensuring preferences for limitations are honored. When given a choice, most hospice patients want the option for more aggressive treatments in selected situations.

Are rural hospices at a financial disadvantage? Evidence from California

Concerns have been voiced about financial pressures faced by rural hospices, because of possible implications for hospice access in rural areas. To assess whether financial performance differs between existing urban and rural hospices, we used the 2003 California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development survey to compare revenues, costs, and profitability (with and without charitable donations). We adjusted for factors related to financial performance, including agency size, years in operation, profit status, whether hospices were freestanding or chain-, home-health-, or hospital-based, and the proportion of patients by insurance type and referral source, race/ethnicity, and diagnosis. One hundred forty-four (91%) hospices were urban, and 14 (9%) were rural. Mean values per patient for total revenue, total cost, and post-tax profit were $7203, $7440 and -$256, respectively, for urban hospices and $6726, $6274 and $452, respectively, for rural hospices. Compared with urban hospices, rural hospices were at least as profitable per patient-day (+$33, P=0.15). They were significantly more profitable (+$47, P=0.05) when charitable donations were excluded. In summary, we found that in California, rural hospices fared no worse financially than urban hospices. These counterintuitive findings underscore the need to examine urban-rural hospice financial differences using a national sample.

Differences in services provided by hospices based on home health agency certification status

BACKGROUND

Similar patient populations and favorable regulations have led many home health agencies to become Medicare and/or Medicaid certified as hospice agencies (mixed), but home health and hospice programs differ in focus and scope. Little research has been performed examining the differences between mixed hospices and those agencies only certified as hospices (nonmixed).

OBJECTIVES

To describe the differences in agency characteristics between mixed and nonmixed agencies; and to compare frequencies of service provision by mixed and nonmixed agencies.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Cross-sectional study using data from the 2000 National Home and Hospice Care Survey.

SUBJECTS

A total of 760 Medicare and/or Medicaid certified hospice agencies providing services during the survey, including 393 mixed agencies (52% of sample) and 367 nonmixed hospices.

MEASURES

Survey responses by administrators about services provided by agency.

RESULTS

Nonmixed agencies were significantly more likely than mixed agencies to provide many types of services, including: volunteers [96.1% vs. 77.4%, respectively; odds ratio (OR): 7.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.26-10.05], social services (96.1% vs. 93.5%; OR: 1.70; 95% CI: 1.20-2.40), spiritual care (95.1% vs. 77.8%; OR: 5.53; 95% CI: 4.13-7.41), bereavement care (93.5% vs. 79.8%; OR: 3.63; 95% CI: 2.80-4.72), counseling (89.5% vs. 70.2%; OR: 3.62; 95% CI: 2.92-4.48), and physician services (87.2% vs. 52.0%; OR: 6.30; 95% CI: 5.18-7.66). In logistic regression models, these differences remained significant after adjustment for census region, operation by a hospital, number of patients and number of hospice patients, and Medicare and Medicaid hospice certification status.

CONCLUSIONS

Mixed agencies provide a narrower range of services to hospice patients than nonmixed agencies, including fewer services considered cornerstones of hospice treatment.

Improving access to hospice care: informing the debate

The most frequently cited policy solution for improving access to hospice care for patients and families is to expand hospice eligibility criteria under the Medicare Hospice Benefit. However, the substantial implications of such a policy change have not been fully articulated or evaluated. This paper seeks to identify and describe the implications of expanding Medicare Hospice Benefit eligibility on the nature of hospice care, the cost of hospice care to the Medicare program, and the very structure of hospice and palliative care delivery in the United States. The growth in hospice has been dramatic and the central issue facing policymakers and the hospice industry is defining the appropriate target population for hospice care. As policymakers and the hospice industry discuss the future of hospice and potential changes to the Medicare Hospice Benefit, it is critical to clearly delineate the options--and the implications and challenges of each option--for improving access to hospice care for patients and families.

Paying the price at the end of life: a consideration of factors that affect the profitability of hospice

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate factors that affect the financial performance of hospice.

METHODS

Using the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development 2003 survey, we evaluated the organizational attributes, clinical care, and financial performance of 185 operational hospices. As outcomes, we evaluated revenues, costs, and profits per patient and per patient-day, the intensity and skill mix of care, and the provision of charitable and special palliative services. We evaluated regression-adjusted differences by profit status controlling for other organizational features and aggregate patient characteristics.

RESULTS

Hospices reported median revenue of $6865 per patient and $138 per patient-day (for-profit-not-for profit [FP-NFP] difference -$20, p = 0.045), median cost of $6737 per patient, and $135 per patient-day (FP-NFP difference -$55, p = 0.002), and median pretax profit of $334 per patient and $6 per patient-day (FP-NFP difference $34, p = 0.026). Patients received a median of 29.9 total visits by all providers per patient (FP-NFP difference 8.8 visits, p = 0.010), but there was no difference in total visits per patient-day. A median of 50.8% of all nursing visits were registered nurse (RN) visits (FP-NFP difference -14.1%, p < 0.001). Few hospices provided charity care, and only 4% of hospices reported expenditures on chemotherapy and only 9% on radiation therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall hospice profitability is low. Length of stay is strongly associated with financial performance, and greater FP profitability is related to lower costs. FP hospices also provide less RN care as a proportion of nursing care. Few hospices provide charitable care or special costly services. The relationship of service patterns to patient quality needs to be examined.

Regulating palliative care: the case of hospice

Palliative care services provided to patients and families vary substantially across hospices. Literature suggests regulation can act as a standardizing force in health care delivery. However, little is known about the effect of regulation on the delivery of palliative care in hospice and whether its effect differs for different types of hospice providers. We estimated the association between regulation, defined as Medicare hospice certification, and the delivery of palliative care in hospice using a nationally representative data set of 9,409 patients from 2,066 hospices surveyed in the National Home and Hospice Care Survey, 1992-2000. Using multivariable analysis, we found Medicare hospice certification was associated with a significantly broader range of services provided to patients (odds ratio [OR]=2.45; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16, 5.17). This effect was significantly more pronounced (P-value for interaction=0.001) among for-profit hospices (OR=15.24; 95% CI: 4.06, 57.17) than among nonprofit hospices (OR=1.53; 95% CI: 0.75, 3.14). The effect of ownership on certification differences was most apparent for the provision of skilled nursing (prevalence difference in difference=52.4%), spiritual care (prevalence difference in difference=49.6%), and social services (prevalence difference in difference=48.1%). This study is the first to demonstrate the substantial association between the regulation of hospices and the provision of a multidisciplinary range of services to patients and families. It provides valuable insights regarding the potential role of regulation in standardizing the quality of palliative care across the increasingly diverse palliative care programs developing outside of hospice.

Variation in Patients' Hospice Costs

We obtained patient-level cost data from one hospice to explore variation in hospice costs across patients. We found that average per day costs decreased as duration of hospice stay increased. Costs per day were lower for nursing home residents than nonresidents. We identify possible alterations to the Medicare per diem payment system that could address these issues, including higher per diems for the first and last days and an adjuster for nursing home residence. However, replicating these results using data from a broader, more representative sample of hospices is needed before making changes to the per diem system.

Successful palliation with octreotide of a neuroendocrine syndrome from malignant melanoma

We present a unique case of a neuroendocrine syndrome in a patient with Stage IV vaginal melanoma metastatic to the liver that was successfully palliated with octreotide. Similar to the carcinoid syndrome, the patient exhibited chronic diaphoresis, intermittent low-grade fevers, dizziness, nausea with vomiting, and hot flashes. The symptoms on admission of acute hypotension, acute exacerbation of abdominal pains, and intractable nausea with vomiting suggested a neuroendocrine crisis secondary to massive degranulation and hormone release. Consistent with our hypothesis, her plasma chromogranin A was found to be elevated. Octreotide was used successfully to palliate her symptoms. When the octreotide was stopped, all her symptoms returned. As the use of octreotide is gaining application in palliative care, this case highlights the effectiveness of its use in a select group of patients whose symptoms would be otherwise difficult to manage.

At the eleventh hour: psychosocial dynamics in short hospice stays

PURPOSE

This study explored the psychosocial dynamics of short hospice stays (less than 2 weeks) of cancer patients age 65 and older.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In-depth interviews with 59 caregivers of 50 patients were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded by using Atlas ti software.

RESULTS

A descriptive typology is presented. A late diagnosis (n = 22 or 44%) was one in which cancer was diagnosed between 2 and 4 weeks before death, rendering earlier hospice admission impossible. Late diagnoses were made because the cancer was missed, masked by comorbidities, or the person resisted seeing a health care provider. A known diagnosis (n = 25 or 50%) was one in which the diagnosis was made long before hospice admission; admission was delayed because the person elected ongoing curative treatment until the final days of life, or the family managed the care without hospice until a turning point (medical, functional, pragmatic, or emotional) occurred, making the care unmanageable.

IMPLICATIONS

Hospice utilization is influenced by the interrelationship among patient-family-provider factors. Understanding the characteristics and needs of subgroups of terminally ill people is key to providing good care at life's end.

Operational and Financial Performance of Publicly Traded Hospice Companies

BACKGROUND

The performance of hospices owned by investor-owned, publicly traded hospice companies has been largely ignored by the literature.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis that compares the operating and financial performance of hospices owned by publicly traded companies to private, for-profit hospices and to nonprofit hospices within small- and large-size categories based on patient days.

DESIGN

A nonparametric median test was conducted using comparisons of median values for each measure between comparison ownership groups within the small and large size categories.

SETTING

Financial and operational data for the three ownership groups included in our sample were obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Cost Report Data over a 3-year period with the most recent fiscal year ending between September 30, 2002 and September 29, 2003.

MEASUREMENT

We measured the operational and financial performance of hospices in three areas: utilization, services, and financial performance.

RESULTS

Small hospices owned by publicly traded companies incurred a longer length of stay, lower operating expenses, generated higher revenue per day and profit margin, and served a greater proportion of Medicare patients compared to nonprofit counterparts. Large hospices owned by publicly traded hospices served a greater proportion of Medicare patients, offered fewer non-core services, had higher revenue per day and profit margin and incurred lower salary and benefit expense per day.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest publicly traded for-profit hospices, in comparison to for-profit and nonprofit hospices, are able to earn substantially higher profits.

Access to Nursing Home Hospice: Perspectives of Nursing Home and Hospice Administrators

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Hospice improves the quality of end of life care in nursing homes but serves less than 10% of dying residents. For residents to elect hospice, nursing homes must first contract for these services. We surveyed nursing home and hospice administrators to describe facilitators and barriers to hospice in nursing homes, and to test whether nursing home administrators' attitudes correlate with hospice use.

METHODS

In a mailed survey, all nursing home and hospice administrators in North Carolina responded to items on hospice's effect on quality of care, and on facilitators and barriers to its use in nursing homes. Among nursing home administrators, bivariate analyses were used to test associations of attitudes with use of hospice.

RESULTS

After 2 mailings, 241 (62%) nursing home administrators and 74 (85%) hospice administrators responded. Eighty-three percent of nursing homes had a hospice contract, with a median of 3 residents enrolled in the last 3 months. Nursing home administrators were less likely than hospice administrators to believe that hospice improves quality of care for pain, emotional and spiritual needs, and bereavement support. Nursing home administrators were more likely to agree that, "Nursing homes provide good care without using hospice for dying residents and their families," (24% versus 1%, p < 0.001). Among nursing home administrators with a hospice contract (n = 180), those who agreed that hospice improves quality of care had higher rates of hospice use in their facilities.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing home administrators' attitudes toward hospice may influence its availability for nursing home residents.

End-of-life care: an agenda for policy improvement

Current arrangements for health care in the United States do not adequately address the needs of a growing population that has serious, eventually fatal chronic illness. New programs and policies are necessary to encourage coordination of care; better match services to the needs of patients; better provide education and incentives; and better support formal and informal caregivers. Models of end-of-life care, such as MediCaring, are described along with a research and policy agenda that focuses on modifying the health care system and building on new innovations.

The opportunity for collaborative care provision: the presence of nursing home/hospice collaborations in the U.S. states

This study estimated the proportion of U.S. nursing homes (NHs) collaborating with Medicare hospices and identified state-level factors associated with this collaboration. Collaboration was classified as present when at least one of a NH's residents dying in July through December, 2000 received hospice. Seventy-six percent of NHs (n=12,174) had hospice collaborations, with proportions ranging from 37% in Wyoming to 96% in Florida. State-level factors associated with greater collaboration included having a lower proportion of persons 65+ residing in rural areas, lower NH occupancy and larger hospices, and Medicaid NH reimbursement which was not case-mixed and was paid directly to NHs (not to hospices) for hospice-enrolled residents. Considering the high amount of estimated NH/hospice collaboration, care provision by both NHs and hospices appears to be a potentially viable approach for providing comprehensive end-of-life care in the majority of U.S. NHs. Findings suggest the rural composition of a state as well as its policies and healthcare market characteristics either foster or discourage NH/hospice collaboration.