Family Evaluation of Hospice Care: Results from voluntary submission of data via website

Stephen R. Connor, Joan Teno, Carol Spence, Neal Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

113 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC) survey is a 61-item questionnaire that surveys family members about care provided to the decedent by the hospice. Hospices submit their data to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), where results are tabulated. For the first two quarters of 2004, a total of 29,292 surveys were tabulated. On average, respondents rated their overall satisfaction with care as 47.1 on a 50-point composite scale of five measures of satisfaction. Opportunities for improvement were identified for attending to family needs for support (18.2% of those surveyed reported at least one unmet need), attending to family needs for communication (10-29%), and coordination of care (22.1%). Surrogate reporting of unmet needs for pain, dyspnea, or emotional support ranged from 5.3% to 9.8%. The FEHC is a useful tool for measuring hospice performance and identifies a number of opportunities for improvement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9-17
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume30
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • End of life
  • Family Evaluation of Hospice Care Survey
  • Family satisfaction
  • Quality of care

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Nursing
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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