Selecting Your Hospice

The choice will always be yours or your family members on which hospice to use.

What’s Important?

There may be one hospice organization or several in your community. In the Portland metropolitan area from Government Camp to the Willamette River, from Estacada to the Columbia River, there are 16!

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has developed some questions to help identify factors that may be important to you and your family when selecting a hospice. An important point to make: all hospices are held to the same Medicare regulations.

1. Is the hospice Medicare-certified? Most hospices are certified by Medicare and are therefore required to follow Medicare rules and regulations. Hospice is heavily regulated.
2. Has the hospice been surveyed by a state or federal oversight agency in the last five years? Ask when the last survey was and if any deficiencies were noted and, if so, have they been resolved?
3. Is the organization an NHPCO member and does it comply with all aspects of NHPCO’s Standards for Hospice Programs?
4. Does the hospice conduct a family evaluation survey? Ask for the most recent scores so you can see how previous patients and family members have rated their services.
5. If hospice is requested, how soon can they come to the home and admit the patient? Do they have same-day admits? Evening and weekend admits?
6. How long has the hospice been operating in the community? Again, length of time in the community may be important to you and your family.
7. How many patients at any one time are assigned to each hospice staff member who will be caring for the patient? What is the nurse/patient ratio?
8. What is the organization’s governance structure? Whether or not the organization is a not for profit, for profit, government, or a part of a larger healthcare organization may be important to you and your family. Is the hospice a freestanding, community-based hospice or part of a large chain of  hospices? Mt. Hood Hospice is a non-profit, freestanding, community-based hospice.