Hospice Visit Patterns Across Patient Demographic and Clinical Characteristics

Year of Publication
2026
Author
Journal
Health Affairs Scholar
Volume
4
Issue
10
Date Published
10/2026
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag271
Abstract

Approximately 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries use hospice care annually, with services primarily delivered through in-person visits from an interdisciplinary team comprising nurses, social workers, home health aides, and other professionals. Despite the centrality of these visits to hospice care, limited evidence on visit patterns hinders efforts to establish or evaluate benchmark visit standards, quality measures, care delivery practices, and workforce planning. To address this gap, this study analyzed 100% Medicare assessment and claims data from 2016 to 2021. Using a retrospective cohort design, the study examined visit patterns among beneficiaries aged 65 and older enrolled in hospice.

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