Hospice Care in Louisiana & Mississippi in 2006

Hospice care in the United States is considered to be the standard end-of-life care model for quality, compassionate care for people who are facing a life-limiting illness or injury. Over the last few years, hospice care which involves interdisciplinary services provided by physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, counselors, home health aides, and volunteers has been expanding rapidly. This team-oriented supporting system is not only for the patient's needs and wishes, but also for patient's loved ones. Utilization of hospice care varies widely by cause of death and by geographic location of the facilities. Hospice utilization rates and Medicare payments are higher in the South and Southwest compared to the rates and payments in the Midwest and Northeast. In 2006, Mississippi had an average length of stay of 114 days and payment per patient of $13,542 while the national average was only 71 days and $9,564, and its neighbor state Louisiana was 74 days and $9,096. This study uses data from The Health Care Information System (HCIS) by CMS to examine the differences between utilization of hospice providers that are members of the local state organization and those that are not. 51% and 33% of the hospice care providers in Louisiana and Mississippi were members of the local state organization respectfully. There were significant differences in between members and non-members of Mississippi providers in Medicare total patient counts, total care days, total payments, ALOS, payment per patient, and average daily census while no similar results were found in Louisiana.