LeadingAge New York Adviser Winter Vol. 1 | Page 39

than 7%1 of patients were identified as being of Hispanic

percentage of hospice admissions . Today, cancer

or Latino origin (Table 4) .

diagnoses account for less than half of all hospice

Table 4. Percentage of Hospice Patients by Ethnicity 1

admissions (36 .6%1) (Table 6) . Currently, less than 25%
of all U .S . deaths are now caused by cancer, with the

Patient Ethnicity

2014

2013

majority of deaths due to other terminal diseases .4

Non-Hispanic or Latino origin

92 .9%

93 .2%

The top four non-cancer primary diagnoses for patients

7 .1%

6 .8%

Hispanic or Latino origin

admitted to hospice in 2014 were dementia (14 .8%1),
heart disease (14 .7%1), lung disease (9 .3%1), and stroke or

Patients of minority (non-Caucasian) race accounted for

coma (6 .4%1) .

about one quarter of hospice patients in 2014 (Table 5)1 .
years ofTable
age or5.older.
In fact,
percent
wereby85Race
years
1
Percentage
of 41.1
Hospice
Patients
of age or older. In 2014, 76 percent of hospice patients
identified
as Race
being white/Caucasian, compared
to 80.92013
Patient
2014
percent in 2013.
White/Caucasian

76 .0%

80 .9%

When hospice care in the United States was established in
Multiracial or Other Race
13 .1%
7 .5%
the 1970’s, cancer patients made up the largest percentage
Black/African
American
7 .6%
8 .4%
of hospice
admissions.
Today, cancer diagnoses
account
for just
36.6
percent
of
hospice
admissions.
The
top
three
Asian, Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander
3 .1%
2 .9%
non-cancer primary diagnoses for patients admitted to
American Indian or Alaskan Native
0 .3%
0 .3%
hospice in 2014 were dementia (14.8 percent), heart disease
(14.7 percent), and lung disease (9.3 percent). “Debility
unspecified” was disallowed as a primary diagnosis in 2014.
The U.S. hospice movement was founded by volunteers
and there is continued commitment to volunteer
service. NHPCO estimates that in 2014, 430,000 hospice
volunteers provided 19 million hours of service. In 2014,
most volunteers were assisting with direct support (60.8
percent), 20.2 percent provided clinical care support, and
19.1 percent provided general support. In 2014, 5.2 percent
of all clinical staff hours were provided by volunteers. The
typical hospice volunteer devoted 46.3 hours of service
over the course of the year and patient care volunteers made
an average of 20 visits to hospice patients.
The Medicare hospice benefit, enacted by Congress in 1982,
is the predominate source of payment for hospice care. The
percentage of hospice patients covered by the Medicare
hospice benefit versus other payment sources was 85.5
percent in 2014. Managed care or private insurance paid for
6.9 percent of patients, while Medicaid covered 5 percent of
hospice patients.

Table 6. Percentage of Hospice Admissions
by Primary Diagnosis 1

Primary Diagnosis

2014

2013

Cancer

36 .6%

36 .5%

Non-Cancer Diagnoses

63 .4%

63 .5%

Dementia

14 .8%

15 .2%

Heart Disease

14 .7%

13 .4%

Lung Disease

9 .3%

9 .9%

Other

8 .3%

6 .9%

Stroke or Coma

6 .4%

5 .2%

Where
doDisease
most(ESRD)
hospice patients receive
care?
Kidney
3 .0%
3 .0%
Liver Disease
1%
The majority
of patient care is provided in2 .3%
the place2 .the
Non-ALS
Motor Neuron
1%private1 .8%
patient
calls “home”
(Table 1) . In addition2 .to
Debilitythis
Unspecified
1 .9%residential
5 .4%
residences,
includes nursing homes and
1
Amyotrophic
(ALS)received
0 .4% care at0 .4%
facilities .
In 2014,Lateral
58 .9%Sclerosis
of patients

home .
The
percentage of hospice patients0 .2%
receiving0 .2%
care
HIV
/ AIDS
in a hospice inpatient facility increased from 26 .4%1 to
31 .8%1 .

nu

m

pr

ho

ag

M

ch

ch

th

Table 1. Location of Hospice Patients at Death 1

nu

wh

Location of Death

2014

2013

Patient’s Place of Residence

58 .9%

66 .6%

Private Residence

35 .7%

41 .7%

Nursing Home

14 .5%

17 .9%

W
pa

8 .7%

7 .0%

Pa

31 .8%

26 .4%

9 .3%

7 .0%

M

Residential Facility

Hospice Inpatient Facility
To access the full report, please visit http://www.nhpco.org/
sites/default/files/public/Statistics_Research/2015_Facts_
Acute Care Hospital
© 2015 NHPCO
NHPCO Facts and Figures on Hospice Care
Figures.pdf

Page 7

Inpatient Facilities and Residences
In addition to providing home hospice care, about one in
three hospice agencies also operate a dedicated inpatient
unit