Caregiver-Reported Quality in Hospices Owned by Private Equity Firms and Publicly Traded Companies

Abstract

The US hospice industry has shifted from not-for-profit to for-profit ownership models,^1,2 producing concerns about care quality. For-profit hospices may have higher rates of live discharges³ and hospitalizations⁴ and worse caregiver-reported experiences.¹ Recently, hospices have been acquired by private equity firms (PEFs) and publicly traded companies (PTCs).⁵ Although all for-profit ownership models are oriented toward profit maximization, PEF and PTC ownership structures are distinct in being incentivized to generate short-term and above-market returns for investors,⁵ raising questions about the potential influence of financial objectives on quality. We compared differences in caregiver-reported hospice quality across categories of ownership.

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Link to article: https://tinyurl.com/bdda96ej