Most U.S. hospices surveyed had deficiencies

A report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that 87 percent of hospices surveyed over a five-year period that participated in Medicare had a deficiency, according to an article on the ABC News website.

That means that they failed to meet one or more Medicare requirements to provide adequate care. Most of the hospices cited had multiple deficiencies. 

Twenty percent of the hospices surveyed had serious deficiencies, which means "a hospice violates one or more standards and the hospice’s capacity to furnish adequate care is substantially limited or adversely affects the health and safety of patients."

That number that quadrupled from 2012 to 2015 and then decreased slightly in 2016, the article said.

Read the article.