For funeral homes
Understanding hospice quality data as a funeral home
Medicare publishes how families rate each hospice and how each hospice's care looks in claims data. Here is what those numbers mean, and how to use them when you choose which hospices to get to know.
Checked against the sources listed below on October 20, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state; check yours.
The family survey and its stars
The CAHPS Hospice Survey asks family caregivers about the care their family member received. Its scores cover communication with the family, getting timely help, treating the patient with respect, emotional and spiritual support, help for pain and symptoms, rating the hospice 9 or 10, and whether they would recommend the hospice.
- Star ratings were first published in August 2022. Care Compare shows one summary star rating, the family caregiver survey rating, from 1 to 5.
- A hospice needs at least 75 completed surveys over eight quarters to get a star rating. Many small hospices have none. A missing rating is not a low rating.
- Star ratings are updated every six months.
- The survey was revised for deaths from the second quarter of 2025. Until the November 2027 refresh the summary star is built from seven measures, and from February 2028 from nine.
For a plain description of each score, see how to read CMS hospice ratings.
The Hospice Care Index
The Hospice Care Index (HCI) is one score built from Medicare claims. It has 10 indicators, such as gaps in nurse visits, visits near death and live discharges. A hospice earns one point for each indicator where it meets CMS's criterion, so 10 is the highest score. CMS first published it on Care Compare in August 2022.
What is coming next
Since October 1, 2025, hospices fill in a new patient assessment called HOPE (Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation). CMS says it expects to begin publishing HOPE measures in November 2027.
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How a funeral home can use the numbers
- Read the communication and emotional support scores. They describe how families felt cared for before they reach you.
- Use quality next to size and distance. A small hospice with no star rating may still be the main hospice in a rural county.
- Look at the size of a difference, not only which number is higher. Scores cover deaths over a past period and may lag recent changes.
- Do not use ratings to steer families or to speak badly of a hospice. The choice of hospice is the family's.
- Ask a hospice about its results when you meet. Most will be glad to talk about them.
The hospice market tool shows the family survey rating and patient numbers for every hospice near you, from the CMS data we use.
Common questions
Why does a hospice have no star rating?
A hospice needs at least 75 completed family surveys over eight quarters for a star rating. Many small hospices have fewer. A missing rating is not a low rating.
How often do hospice star ratings change?
Every six months.
What is a good Hospice Care Index score?
The score runs from 0 to 10, one point for each indicator where the hospice meets CMS's criterion. Higher means it met more of them.
Sources
- Hospice Quality Reporting Program: Current Measures (CMS.gov)
- Frequently Asked Questions About the CAHPS Hospice Survey Star Ratings (2025) (CAHPS Hospice Survey (CMS))
- CAHPS Hospice Survey Star Ratings (CAHPS Hospice Survey (CMS))
- FY 2022 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update final rule (Hospice Care Index) (Federal Register)
- FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update final rule (HOPE reporting) (Federal Register)
- Hospice care data (Provider Data Catalog) (CMS (data.cms.gov))
See the hospices around your funeral home
Enter your ZIP code, city or address. The free market tool shows every Medicare hospice within 10, 25 or 50 miles on a map, who owns each one, how many Medicare patients it cared for, and which are growing. If you want it on paper, the partnership report is a free PDF; we ask only for an email address to send it.
Open the hospice market tool