Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) and Horizon Hospice opened the first centralized inpatient hospice unit (CIPU) in a Chicago academic medical center in 2012. This study examined if there was a difference in cost or length of stay (LOS) in a CIPU compared to hospice care in scattered beds throughout RUMC.

This retrospective, cross-sectional study compared cost and LOS for patients admitted to the CIPU (n = 141) and those admitted to hospice scattered beds (SBM) throughout RUMC (n = 56).

The CIPU patients had a median LOS of 6.0 days versus 2.0 days for SBM patients.

The CIPU patients had longer hospice LOS but lower hospital costs. Academic medical centers may benefit from aggregating hospice beds.