Palliative Care Needs Survey – Member Participation Matters!

The 2020 Palliative Care Needs Survey is currently underway. NHPCO member hospices should have received an email invitation on June 19 with the necessary link to complete the 2020 survey, which should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your voice matters. If your organization is an NHPCO member hospice and you have not received the email invitation to complete the survey, please reach out to palliativecare@nhpco.org.

Your voice matters and NHPCO looks forward to releasing a report later this year that will demonstrate development and trending since the 2018 survey was conducted. Building on the previous survey will enable NHPCO to further advance its efforts on behalf of community-based palliative care.

In June and July of 2018, NHPCO and the NHPCO Palliative Care Council conducted a palliative care needs survey of its members.  A summary report, available online, was published by NHPCO, Palliative Care Needs Survey Results. This survey informed NHPCO policy and advocacy efforts, supported requests for a Community-Based Palliative Care model, aided in the development of the NHPCO Palliative Care Playbook, and the creation of education resources.

Key findings from the report indicated that 53 percent of respondents were providing palliative care services while an additional 35 percent were considering or were in the process of developing these services. Respondents represented palliative care services in 48 states.

The survey found that the percent of respondents providing palliative care services have matured community-based palliative care programs and over 85,153 seriously ill individuals were served in 2017. While the primary location of services provided was community-based (home, assisted living facility, and long-term care), most of these organizations were providing care in multiple settings, including the hospital and clinic. Over 70 percent of these respondents had served palliative care patients for three or more years. 63 percent served 101 or more patients, with 29 percent of these organizations serving 501 to 5000 patients in 2017.

The survey results provide important information that demonstrates hospice providers are expanding their services to meet the needs of seriously ill individuals and their families, particularly in the community setting. NHPCO and the NHPCO Palliative Care Council are committed to developing, (or partnering to provide) tools, resources, and education to support our members in the provision of palliative care services.

The deadline for completing the 2020 Palliative Care Needs Survey has been extended to July 17, 2020.

Learn about some of NHPCO efforts addressing community-based palliative care.