UCSF

Context

With rising concerns about quality of care in hospice, federal agencies recently began mandating quality measurement in hospice, including measures of advance care planning (ACP).

Objectives

To characterize hospice providers' experiences with ACP quality measurement and their reflections on ways to improve it.

Methods

Semi-structured in-depth interviews of fifty-one hospice providers from various clinical backgrounds and organizational roles in four geographically diverse non-profit, community-based hospices in the U.S. Participants were queried about their experiences with and barriers to ACP quality measurement processes in their organization, opinions about the impacts of federally mandated quality measures, and ideas for improvement. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis with an interdisciplinary team, facilitated by ATLAS.ti and Excel.

Results

Four key findings of the ACP quality measurement experience for hospice staff included variation, barriers, attitudes, and recommendations for improvement. 1) Variation: Within and across organizations, participants applied a variety of processes to measure ACP quality, and exposure to and experiences with quality measurement varied based on organizational role. 2) Barriers: ACP quality measurement was impeded by limited resources, technological problems, and measurement challenges. 3) Attitudes: Participants' opinions of recently implemented federally mandated requirements for ACP quality measurement highlighted numerous downsides, unintended consequences, and few upsides. 4) Recommendations: improvements included personalizing ACP quality measures, elevating the importance of quality measurement, and streamlining processes.

Conclusion

Hospice staff take ACP quality measurement seriously, but insufficient organizational resources and regulatory bureaucracy create challenges. Efforts to enhance ACP quality measure nuance and assess outcomes are needed to improve care.