The end-of-life care business is changing, and for large multi-agency, multi-state hospice chains, that means business is booming.
In fact, chains cared for nearly half of all hospice patients in 2011, a dramatic increase from a decade prior when small, mostly nonprofit, organizations provided 75% of all care, according to a recent Forbes article, which cites a new study in the Health Affairs journal.
The study shows that, like many in the medical and senior care industries, hospices are scrambling to consolidate so they can benefit from the economies of scale and marketing advantages of being big.
While small nonprofits still served more patients than for-profit chains in 2011, their share has been shrinking rapidly. In 2000, they cared for about 53% of enrollees. By 2011, they were caring for only about 37%.
Over the same period, the for-profit chains’ share of enrollees grew from about one-quarter to nearly half. Nonprofit chains accounted for roughly another 10%.
To read the Forbes article, click here. For the Health Affairs article, click here.
Written by Emily Study
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