Not All Hospice Providers are The Same: The Four Seasons Difference
Four Seasons is grateful to serve the Western North Carolina community as a non-profit provider of serious illness and hospice care. Being a non-profit provider means that the patient, their loved ones and caregivers are our biggest priorities and we are able to provide care to every person, regardless of their ability to pay.
“We truly believe that every individual deserves dignity, respect, and compassion, so we prioritize what is most important to every person in every interaction,” says Dr. Millicent Burke-Sinclair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Four Seasons. “We co-create the very best care by hiring and training qualified staff, collaborating with local care providers, and partnering with our community. We’ve been serving our community since 1979, and our commitment to providing high-quality, life-enhancing care remains steadfast.”
You may have heard some rumblings in the media lately about some for-profit hospices employing questionable practices for financial gain. All hospice providers are not the same. As a trusted non-profit organization, we serve any and all hospice-eligible patients, regardless of their diagnosis or ability to pay, because it is the right thing to do. We are local people, serving local people with quality and compassionate care because we believe strongly in ensuring that every patient and their loved one deserves comfort, dignity, and support.
Statistics that demonstrate just some of the differences between nonprofit and for-profit providers:
- Nonprofit hospices’ aggregate net Medicare margin was 3% as compared to the 19.9% average net profit that is realized by for profits.(Source Milliman Study) As a mission-centric nonprofit provider, our focus is on meeting the needs of patients and families in our community and supporting our staff.
- Nonprofit hospices provided patients with 10% more nursing visits, 35% more social worker visits, and 2 times as many therapy visits as for-profit providers per patient day. (Source Milliman Study) This demonstrates that patient care is our 1st
- Nonprofits had an overall live discharge rate of 12% compared to 21% for-profit hospices. (Source Milliman Study). This is a testament to the robustness of our care models which are built to support the patient and the caregiver comprehensively so care can be provided and continued wherever the patient and family call home.
- The average length of stay at nonprofit hospice organizations is 73 days as compared to 115 at for profits. (Source MedPac). The reason for this is that as a mission-centric nonprofit, we serve patients with various diagnoses, and we do not turn away those who likely have a very short length of stay.
At Four Seasons we are proud of the integrity we demonstrate in our efforts to maintain compliance with various oversight organizations, Medicare and Medicaid. We are also thankful to apply that same level of integrity with our Donor Stewardship Guarantee. We assure that donors’ wishes are honored with the funds they generously give to ensure that care is available, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.
We spend a great deal of time on analyzing our care, making improvements, and adding value to our care for our patients and families.
“I am so proud to work with an organization where senior leadership keeps integrity and ethical operations as a top priority,” said Four Seasons Director of Compliance, Melody King.
We are honored to serve Western North Carolina and thank you all for the privilege of providing care to you and your loved ones during difficult seasons. While we know not every organization or company is above board, we hope you will see that Four Seasons truly is The Care You Trust.
For more information or to request care, please call, toll-free, 866.466.9734 or REQUEST CARE ONLINE.