Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
United States of America
Publishing Organisation
Partnership for Quality Measurement Geriatric and Palliative Care Project (formerly known as National Quality Forum Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Measures)
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Care of the Patient at the End of Life

Defining Attributes

Definition

The proportion of hospice patients who have received visits from a Registered Nurse or Medical Social Worker (non-telephonically) on at least two out of the final three days of the patient's life.

Numerator

The number of patient stays in the denominator in which the patient and/or caregiver received visits from registered nurses or medical social workers on at least two of the final three days of the patient's life, as captured by hospice claims records.

Denominator

All hospice patient enrollments in hospice with the patient discharged to death except those meeting exclusion criteria outlined below.

Exclusions

Patient stays are excluded from the measure if the patient (1) received any continuous home care, respite care, or general inpatient care in the final three days of life or (2) if the patient was enrolled in hospice fewer than three calendar days.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

None

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Data Source: Claims Data

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods

The Level Of Analysis is performed at the facility level.

Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools

NQF Measure #3645 (last endorsed July 2022)

Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
No
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025