Which hospice you choose is only an issue if there are more than one hospice agencies in your community. In remote areas, you may only have one service provider, however, in any greater metropolitan area and surrounding counties, you most likely have many hospices in your area. You can search online for hospices as well from links we provide at our Find Hospice page. Larger hospices may be better able to pay for frequent newspaper advertisements, but that does not make them better hospices.
Many small hospices provide excellent care.
Do not simply assume that your physician or the hospital social worker will automatically give you all possibilities. If you do get a referral to one particular hospice, ask for reasons why the hospice is better than the others in your area. Openly discuss your needs with your physician, because your attending physician is ultimately going to be in charge of your care and all the services you receive. If your physician refers you to one hospice, he or she will most likely have very good reasons for choosing that hospice. If your physician is a specialist who regularly works with terminal patients, he or she normally will recommend a hospice for its superior services.