Addressing the Need for Public Reporting of Comparative Hospice Quality: A Focus Group Study

This research will provide guidance for the development of an evidence-based model report on hospice quality that includes substantial educational material. It also supports the selection of measures for such a report that would resonate with the public, which makes the use of a comparative quality report more likely. The next step in this research is to develop and formatively test such a report, so that it can be pilot tested with willing hospices in a community offering a choice of providers. Considerable additional work is needed to ensure that hospice becomes more understandable and transparent to the public.