An evaluation of hospices in the New York State Hospice Demonstration Program.

In response to a New York State legislative directive, the study reported herein was undertaken to evaluate the use of hospice care within the state's Hospice Demonstration Program. Twelve hospice programs, each providing one of three different models of hospice care, were studied. The community-based programs were found to be considerably less costly than both the hospital-based scattered-bed programs and the hospital-based autonomous-unit programs. The costs of all three programs, however, were less than the costs of conventional terminal care. Although satisfaction with all three models was high, it was higher for both kinds of hospital-based programs than for the community-based programs.