The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a way to compare hospices. With some measures, there can be limitations*, but looking at results of surveys families complete after they have received hospice care can be helpful. Surveys must be provided by an approved CMS vendor. About a third of those who experience hospice care answer the survey.
You can find out whether people would recommend the hospice and how do they rate the hospice. You can also find out if people received timely help; were they respected; was communication with the hospice team good; did they get help with pain and other symptoms; did they receive emotional and spiritual support; and did they receive training to care for their loved one.
Click on the link above to go to Medicare.gov’s Care Compare website, which allows you to compare by provider type. From the main page, click on Hospice Care. You can also compare hospitals and other providers from this link.
In 2020, Hospice Analytics reported that collectively West Virginia hospices were top in the nation when some of the key measures were combined.
* some of the measures are based on abstraction from documentation. If a hospice has an electronic medical record that forces documentation of the measures, they may score higher than smaller hospices that do not.