The authors found that compared to nonprofit hospices, for-profit hospics:
- Were less likely to provide community benefits, including serving as training sites (55 percent vs. 82 percent), conducting research (18 percent vs. 23 percent) and providing charity care (80 percent vs. 82 percent)
- Cared for a larger proportion of patients with longer expected hospice stays, including those in nursing homes (30 percent vs. 25 percent)
- Had higher patient disenrollment rates (10 percent vs. 6 percent, patients who don't remain in hospice until their death)
- Were more likely to exceed Medicare's aggregate annual cap, which is a regulatory measure to control hospice length of stay and constrain Medicare hospice expenditures, (22 percent vs. 4 percent)
- Were more likely to do outreach to low-income communities (61 percent vs. 46 percent) and minority communities (59 percent to 48 percent), suggesting that the growth of the for-profit sector may increase the use of hospice by these groups and address disparities in hospice use.
- Were less likely to partner with oncology centers (25 percent vs. 33 percent)