When selecting a hospice for you or your loved one, it is important to understand that choosing a not-for-profit hospice, such as Ohio’s Hospice, makes a difference in the quality of care.   

Ohio’s Hospice is a partnership of mission-driven, not-for-profit end-of-life and palliative care providers in Ohio, committed to a shared vision of strengthening and preserving community-based healthcare. Ohio’s Hospice was founded to strengthen not-for-profit community hospices.  
 
 

This matters because there is a difference in the quality of care and commitment to local communities. Even though not-for-profit and for-profit hospices are paid the same through the Medicare or Medicaid Hospice Benefit, for-profit corporations use tactics to reduce costs and generate more profit for shareholders or owners.    

Research studies show that hospice care improves the end-of-life journey for patients and families. According to the study, “Hospice Medicare Margins: Analysis of Patient and Hospice Characteristics, Utilization, and Cost,” the quality and variety of care delivered by for-profits, as well as the types of patients they serve, differs significantly from not-for-profit providers. Conducted by the consulting firm Milliman, the study was sponsored by the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation. 

The study found that not-for-profit hospices provide: 

• 10% more nursing visits 
• 35% more social worker visits 
• Double the therapy visits per day as compared to for-profit-hospices 

The study also found that not-for-profit hospice patients received 1.49 physician or nurse practitioner visits per 100 patient days, almost three times the visit rate of 0.51 per 100 patients days for for-profit hospices. 

The original hospice movement, championed by Dame Cicely Saunders, MD, a British social worker, nurse and physician, focused on providing end-of-life care with both compassion and science, and offering this care through not-for-profit, community-based programs. Today, however, the rapidly growing for-profit hospice industry is diluting the core elements of Dr. Saunders’ vision. At times, the range of services they offer to patients is significantly reduced in the name of profits.  

Not-for-profit hospice providers:  

• Spend 25% more on our comprehensive care per patient.
• Provide more care in home settings.  
• Discharge patients before dying at a lower percentage.  
• Re-admit for hospital care 50% less.  
• Admit higher cost and higher acuity patients, such as those diagnosed with cancer.  
• Admit all patients with a terminal illness, seven days a week.  
• Provide no-cost comprehensive bereavement services to all in the community.  

For-profit hospice providers:  

• Spend 25% less per patient than not-for-profit hospices.  
• Provide less care in home settings.
• Discharge patients at a higher percentage before dying.  
• Re-admit almost twice as many patients to hospitals for care.  
• Admit fewer high-acuity and cancer patients.  
• Provide little or contract out bereavement services. 

As a not-for-profit hospice, Ohio’s Hospice invests in clinical education to enhance care. We offer innovative services and care, beyond what is required by Medicare or Medicaid. 
 
 

We are the state’s most experienced hospice providers, serving our communities for more than 40 years. Our care team includes board-certified hospice and palliative care physicians, hospice-certified nurses and personal care specialists (state tested nursing assistants), social workers, chaplains, bereavement counseling professionals, and volunteers. 
 
 

Because we are a not-for-profit hospice, we provide care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Our patients benefit from an array of complementary and innovative therapies and continue treatments that provide comfort.

To learn more about Ohio’s Hospice, click here or call 800.653.4490.