NHPCO Releases 2013 Facts and Figures for Hospice Care in America
Every Fall the National Hospice and Palliative CareOrganization releases the Hospice
Facts and Figures report, just in time for National Hospice and
Palliative Care Month. The format overall is relatively the same with some
minor differences. Overall, the same
trends we have seen over the past few years have kept going in the same
direction with the same velocity:
Increased # of patients served* (1.5M)
Increasing average length of service (71.8d)
Decreased median length of service (18.7d)
Slightly higher percentage of elderly patients served
Higher diversity of patients served
Increasing percentage of non-cancer diagnosis led by
debility and dementia
Increasing number of hospice programs (5,500)
Increasing percentage of for-profit hospice programs
Increase in Inpatient Hospice (GIP) days
Declining satisfaction rates (although still high)
*NHPCO revised some of their past estimates of
total patients served and is currently using a line graph with confidence
intervals instead of a bar graph with a single number. At the end they have an Appendix which
explains the data sources and the estimates.
I find this to be a very helpful guide to understanding end
of life care in the United States and have shared and discussed it in IDG and
with organizational leadership. It
serves as a helpful benchmark for a hospice program (in addition to the annual PEPPER
reports) compared to national standards. It is also extremely helpful for
presentations as you alw...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Carer Workers Authors: Christian Sinclair Source Type: blogs