U.S. Hospice Market Growth & Trends

The U.S. hospice market size is expected to reach USD 64.7 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to register a CAGR of 8.20% over the forecast period. The rising healthcare expenditure, awareness about the benefits of palliative and end-of-life care, and favorable reimbursements are some of the major growth drivers. According to the NHPCO, there were 4,639 Medicare-certified hospices in operation in 2018, up 13.4% from 2014. The demand for palliative and hospice services is growing with the increasing geriatric population and the number of patients with life-threatening conditions.

According to the NHPCO, 1.55 million Medicare enrollees got hospice care in 2018, increasing by 4% from 2017. As a result, the number of hospice centers in the U.S. is increasing. In the last decade, hospice care has grown swiftly and steadily across the U.S. Over 5,500 hospices in the country provide medical pain treatment, emotional support, and spiritual resources & therapies to patients in their final stage of life. The rising demand for remote patient monitoring coupled with technological advancements, such as tele-hospice, is anticipated to drive the market in near future. Moreover, there is a trend of adopting new technologies to provide care for various illnesses and injuries.

For instance, in December 2019, Kindred Healthcare, LLC successfully implemented Netsmart Referral Manager (Netsmart) across LTAC hospitals. Netsmart is a centralized platform for automating the referral management process, contributing to time savings and better transparency for making informed admission decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected operational goals and long-term projections of hospice businesses in the United States. This is due to a substantial decline in revenue caused by the reduction in referrals/admissions from hospitals. In the current situation, hospices have substantially adopted the technology. In the hospice sector, the usage of telehealth is growing, which is projected to provide growth opportunities for the market in the coming years.

U.S. Hospice Market Report Highlights

  • By location, the hospice center segment held the maximum revenue share in 2021. Hospice center eliminates the need for hospitalization and offers a more balanced & controlled care setting
  • The growing preference for hospice centers is expected to drive the segment growth. For instance, according to an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine, 0.2% of people died in hospice centers in 2003. This figure increased to 8.3% by 2017
  • The home hospice care segment is anticipated to witness significant growth during the forecast period due to the comfortable environment & constant care offered to patients and favorable reimbursement
  • As per the NHPCO, home accounted for 55.6% of the total days of hospice care in 2018, representing a rise of 3.3% since 2014
  • Based on type, the Routine Home Care (RHC) segment dominated the market in 2021 due to the low cost, along with the access to quality treatment, companionship, family involvement, and constant attention to the patients
  • As per the NHPCO, the percentage of days of RHC increased to 98.2% in 2018 from 97.7% in 2014. Increasing duration of stay and growing Medicare spending are expected to fuel segment growth
  • In terms of diagnosis, the dementia segment dominated the market in 2021 due to the high disease prevalence and rising need for its treatment