• 51 member hospices provide care for terminally ill people in a range of settings including their own homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, acute care facilities and hospice residences

• Massachusetts has 8 residential facilities: Amherst, Cambridge, Cape Cod, Danvers, Needham, Reading, Wayland, Worcester

• In 2005, Massachusetts hospices cared for approximately 17, 498 patients  (31% of all deaths in   Massachusetts)

• The average length of time a hospice cares for a patient is 53 days

• The median length of stay is 23.5 days

• 38% of the patients hospice cared for had a length of stay of 7 or fewer days

• 53% of patients had a non-cancer diagnosis (e.g., congestive heart failure, terminal decline, Alzheimer’s Disease, end stage pulmonary disease)

• 53% of patients cared for died at home; 31% died in a skilled nursing facility

	2005	2004	1991
Number of patients cared for in MA	17,498	16,540	5,359
Average LOS	53 days	45 days	45 days
Median LOS	23.5 days	15.3 days	NK
% of Patients with Cancer Diagnosis	47%	52%	84%
% of Patients Who Died at Home	53%	55%	82%
% of Patients Who Died in a Nursing Home	31%	26%	2%
% of all MA Deaths Cared for by Hospice	31%	29%	10%

Diagnosis	2005 % of Total MA Hospice Patients	2004 % of Total MA Hospice Patients
Cancer	47%	52%
Dementia	12%	10%
Debility Unspecified	10%	13%
Heart	10%	11%
Other	10%	NA
Lung	5%	4%
Stroke/Coma	2%	2%
Kidney	2%	2%
Other Motor Neuron	1%	2%
Liver	1%	1%
HIV	.3%	<1%
ALS	.3%	<1%

Source: 2005 National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization National Data Set