Masking Mortality
HCA May Be Masking In-Hospital Mortality Rates With Hospice Transfers
Inappropriately Transferring Patients to Hospice Could Be Reducing Reported Mortality Rates at HCA Hospitals Nationwide to Boost Bonuses and Profits
- HCA's executive compensation is tied to the company's in-hospital mortality rate. Executives earn bonuses if they reduce the reported rate that patients die in HCA hospitals, creating a possible incentive to encourage the practice of quickly shifting seriously ill patients to hospice.
- A shocking new report finds HCA's average Medicare hospice transfer rate was nearly 40% higher than the national average in 2021.
- Analysis of Medicare data also found the rate of patients who die on the same day they are transferred to hospice from HCA hospitals has more than doubled since 2017 – a rate far above the national average.
Why this alleged practice is so dangerous:
- Shifting patients too soon to hospice could mean withholding life-saving care for vulnerable patients.
- Transferring patients to hospice when they are about to die reduces reported in-patient mortality rates and may mask potential widespread problems at hospitals.