Cara McCarty Abbott
Family caregivers are a critical part of the healthcare system. Not only are they part of America’s safety net, but they are also critical partners to hospice providers when caring for loved ones with serious illnesses or at end of life. With 53 million U.S. caregivers actively involved in healthcare decisions for their loved ones, enhancing support for these caregivers can contribute to patient clinical outcomes and improve a sense of well-being among families facing a difficult experience.
When caregivers aren’t supported, it’s not only the people who suffer; it’s also the organizations that they most interact with during the caregiving process. Hospice providers receive poor ratings from Medicaid when they inadequately support families and caregivers, affecting their ability to attract and support future patients and in turn, the staff to support them. They also risk satisfaction and readmission rates when patients don’t receive much-needed support. However, between razor-thin margins, nationwide staffing shortages, and few incentives to invest in innovation and technologies to alleviate administrative burdens, few hospices are able to solve this for the communities they serve independently.
Hospice providers cannot turn this tide alone. This complex, systemic issue requires a comprehensive approach.
The benefits of improving caregiver support
When family caregivers feel supported and informed, they can take better care of their loved ones, resulting in improved patient outcomes. Caregivers are also highly influential: 92% of family caregivers play an active role in the patient experience, underscoring their essential role in patient support and care. When hospice providers deliver caregivers timely information, guidance, and emotional support, they can enhance a caregiver’s ability to respond to patient needs. This, in turn, accelerates the identification of care gaps, leading to quicker intervention to address these challenges and helping providers maintain high-quality care.
Hospice providers are incentivized to help embrace family caregivers as part of the patient care spectrum, proportionate to caregivers’ roles. Family satisfaction is closely linked to organizational quality ratings such as CAPHS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) star ratings. After all, according to psychologist Jason Hotchkiss, caregivers are the ones who rate the experience. Supporting their needs not only aligns with their real impact but also modern expectations of support.
The opportunity for hospice providers to realize the benefits of better caregiver support is enormous: As family satisfaction increases, healthcare providers benefit from higher ratings, reducing CAPHS consultant costs and ensuring better compliance with regulatory standards. High satisfaction also fosters trust, making families more likely to return for future care and recommend the provider to others. Yet, for many of these providers, there simply isn’t the time nor bandwidth to support these caregivers at the highest quality.
Creating more opportunities for caregivers and their support systems to thrive
Improved family caregiver care needs legislative support to address workforce shortages, improve resources, and support new care methods. Policymakers should fund education and training for hospice professionals like nurses and counselors, helping ensure consistent and specialized patient care. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce predicts a 193,000-a-year nursing shortfall every single year until 2032.
Grants or low-interest loans for hospice providers can help them invest in essential technologies like electronic health records, patient monitoring devices, and communication tools. Additionally, fair and timely reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers allow providers to improve staff, technology, and care resources. Altogether, these steps create an environment where innovation can thrive, making care more coordinated, efficient, and family-centered.
Technology innovation is another critical step to improving the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of care for patients and their families, but despite the global healthcare IT market being valued at more than 300 billion in 2024, technology aimed toward hospice providers is lagging. Advanced tools like electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine platforms, and remote patient monitoring systems can streamline communication between care teams, enhance real-time decision-making, and allow for more personalized care plans. With technology, providers can offer virtual visits, reducing the need for in-person visits and increasing access to care, especially in rural or underserved areas. Automation can also help manage scheduling, billing, and reporting, freeing up time for providers to focus on direct patient care. In addition, innovations in data analytics can lead to better outcomes by identifying trends and enabling proactive interventions. Ultimately, technology empowers hospice providers to deliver more efficient, coordinated, and compassionate care.
Ensuring that family caregivers, and hospice providers all get the support that they need is more than just about ensuring that a patient receives end-of-life care with the dignity and support they deserve. It’s also about creating a better experience for all involved, ensuring that caregiver support, so critical to a patient’s well-being, is a protected and respected part of the healthcare continuum, and organizations have the financial and operational resources they need to deliver comprehensive, high-quality care.
Photo: PeopleImages.com, Getty Images
Cara McCarty Abbot is the founder & CEO at Betterleave Bereavement, family caregiver engagement platform pairing proactive communication with caregiver resources to help home health providers, hospice groups, health systems across the U.S.
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