New Hospice News Outlook Report Shows Providers are Increasing their Focus on Palliative Care and Technology Investment


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Hospice News, an Aging Media publication, has released the results of its 2023 Hospice Outlook Survey, identifying the top challenges and opportunities for hospice providers in the year ahead. Participants expressed a continued focus on the holistic wellbeing of both patients and staff, resulting in two pursuits: palliative care and technology investment.

Asked about new care types for the year ahead, respondents identified palliative care as the clear-cut top choice. With staffing still the anticipated toughest challenge in hospice, respondents say they will increase investment in technologies designed to ease the burden on caregivers’ daily work.

Hospice News conducted the survey in partnership with home-based care technology company Homecare Homebase to learn how providers are navigating the difficult road to recovery and growth in a post-pandemic future.

The results show the views of 328 hospice and palliative care professionals in a variety of leadership roles and organizations, painting a vivid picture of the industry-wide sentiment for the year to come.

These results provide perspective and context around the industry’s outlook on 2023, revealing the key factors driving optimism in spite of the lingering challenges of COVID-19 and the industry’s staffing crisis.

In summary, respondents indicated:


  • Palliative care is the next frontier. 56% of survey participants stated that their organizations plan to pursue palliative care for the first time in 2023.
  • Technology spend will rise. Providers plan to invest in a wide variety of technologies in 2023, led by predictive analytics (21%), staff training technology (20%) and patient engagement (17%).
  • Referral sources are expanding. New physician relationships (25%) and hospital systems (22%) are projected to be the largest referral-related growth opportunities in 2023.

“More than ever, hospice providers are meeting their top challenges — staffing shortages and patient care — with a multi-pronged approach, teaming data, holistic care and user-centered technology,” said Hospice News Editor Jim Parker. “The continued rise in hospice utilization and family comfort with the service line is a positive development for the health care system.”

Scott Decker, CEO of Homecare Homebase also shared his thoughts on the 2023 Outlook Survey:

“The 2023 Outlook Survey offers valuable insight into the direction of the hospice industry and reaffirms the need for a technology partner that improves interoperability to enable enhanced referral relationships and sharing of clinical data among care teams. Homecare Homebase continues to work closely with our customers to create strategies to empower exceptional patient and family care in the rapidly growing palliative and hospice care space.”

The survey was conducted online between November 28, 2022, and December 20, 2022. Access the full survey results here.

About Aging Media Network and Hospice News

Aging Media Network, an innovative publishing company based in Chicago, Illinois, is the publisher of Senior Housing News, Home Health Care News, Skilled Nursing News, Hospice News and Behavioral Health Business. Hospice News is the leading source for news and information covering the hospice and palliative care industries.

About Homecare Homebase

Homecare Homebase is a Dallas-based software leader offering hosted, cloud-based solutions to streamline operations, simplify compliance and boost clinical and financial outcomes for home-based care agencies. Its customized mobile solutions enable real-time, wireless data exchange and communication between field clinicians, physicians and office staff for better care, more accurate reporting and improved revenue cycle management. Founded by industry veterans in 1999, HCHB empowers over 200,000 users to service more than 800,000 patients daily, resulting in over one hundred million visits per year. The company is part of the Hearst Health network. For more information, visit http://www.hchb.com or call us toll-free at 1- 866-535-HCHB (4242).

About Hearst Health

The mission of Hearst Health is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person’s health journey. Care guidance from Hearst Health reaches the majority of people in the U.S. The Hearst Health network includes FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase and MHK (formerly MedHOK). Hearst also holds a minority interest in the precision medicine and oncology analytics company M2Gen. Follow Hearst Health on Twitter @HearstHealth and LinkedIn @Hearst-Health.

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