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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jon M. Thompson, PhD, Health Services Administration Program, James Madison University, MSC 4301, 3134 HHS Building, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, 540/568-3472, thompsjm@jmu.edu and Michael J. McCue, DBA, Department of Health Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia, Box 980203, Richmond, VA 23298-0203.

Hospices provide palliative care and support services to individuals who have a terminal illness and who are nearing death. Since 2000, the hospice industry has experienced a surge in the number of freestanding hospices that are operated by investor-owned, publicly traded companies. However, hospice performance has been largely ignored in the literature. This paper provides a descriptive analysis that compares the operating and financial performance of hospices owned by publicly traded companies to private, for-profit hospices and to non-profit hospices within small and large size categories based on patient days.

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.We measured operational and financial performance of hospices in three areas: utilization, services and financial performance. A non-parametric Median test was conducted to compare median values for each measure between comparison ownership groups within the small and large size categories.

Study findings show that small hospices owned by publicly traded companies incurred a longer length of stay, had lower operating expenses, generated higher revenue per day and profit margin, and served a greater proportion of Medicare patients compared to non-profit 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, when compared to large, non-profit hospices.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Understand the importance of the hospice benefit provided under Medicare, and the growth in for-profit hospice providers.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the operational and financial performance of not-for-profit, for-profit and for-profit publicly traded hospices.
• Identify implications of hospice performance for hospice administrators and hospice users.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No