Hospice inpatient care: an overview of NHO's 1995 inpatient survey results.

Abstract

Hospice inpatient care is currently provided through a variety of arrangements, including freestanding facilities, dedicated units, and contracted beds, but lack of standard definitions of the various types of arrangements has led to confusion about the number and type of facilities actually in operation. This study identified a total of 97 freestanding facilities and dedicated hospice units with a total of 1,165 beds. Fifty-six percent were freestanding facilities; the balance were units located within other facilities, primarily hospitals. Forty-six percent of the units provided mainly acute hospice care, 17% provided mainly residential care, and the balance mixed acute and residential care. Seventy-seven of these facilities were operational in 1994, and these were classified into five facility types. Length of stay for the acute level of care averaged 9.7 days with a median of 6.8 days for the 36 reporting facilities. Length of stay for residential care averaged 33.2 days with a median of 30 days for the 22 reporting facilities. Bed size, total inpatient days of care, average daily census, occupancy rate, and charges are also reported by facility type.