Characteristics of patients in a long-term care hospice setting

There are 34 hospices based in long-term care facilities in the United States. This study examines the characteristics of 697 hospice patients treated during a ten-year period in a long-term care based hospice setting, the Hospice of Washington, a unit of the Washington Home in Washington, DC. Characteristics of each patient, including age at admission, sex, race, marital status, referral source, payment source, diagnosis, and admission and discharge data were recorded. The age, race and sex characteristics of the Hospice's patients are not unusual, with the expected exception of a large and growing number of black patients. Interesting trends include decreasing length of stay, increasing non-cancer diagnoses including AIDS, decreased hospital referrals, and growing participation by HMOs.