Guide
Glossary
A few terms that appear in this directory, in ordinary language.
Alternate delivery site (ADS)
A location listed on a hospice license other than the parent office. We keep these rows distinct from the parent agency, even when they share a license number.
CAHPS Hospice Survey
A CMS family-caregiver survey. Results are published as percentages and, for some hospices, a star rating. Many agencies have no star rating in a given release because too few surveys were completed.
CMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a U.S. federal agency. CMS publishes hospice general information, quality measures, CAHPS results, and ZIP service areas.
CCN
CMS Certification Number. The identifier we use to join a Medicare number on the Texas roster to CMS files, after padding to six characters.
Enforcement action pending
A license status on the HHSC roster. It is a neutral flag that an enforcement matter was pending when the file was dated. It is not a verdict, and it is not a rating we assigned.
HCSSA
Home and Community Support Services Agency. The Texas license category that includes home health, hospice, and personal assistance agencies. This directory includes rows flagged for hospice.
Hospice Care Index
A 0–10 score CMS publishes from several claims-based indicators. We show the published score and its parts. We do not replace it with a score of our own.
Hospice vs. palliative care
Palliative care can be offered at any stage of serious illness, sometimes alongside curative treatment. Hospice is a form of palliative care usually offered when life expectancy is limited and comfort is the main goal.
Inpatient unit
A flag on the HHSC roster (and sometimes a service line) indicating in-patient hospice. It describes a setting the agency reported, not a quality score.
Licensed only
An agency on the Texas roster with no Medicare hospice number we could parse. It may still be a licensed hospice. CMS quality and ZIP service areas will not join without that number.
Medicare-certified
On this site, a row whose roster entry includes a Medicare hospice number. Certification is a federal status; we do not re-check it beyond the public files.
Medicare hospice benefit
A Part A benefit that can cover hospice services for people who meet official eligibility rules and elect hospice. See our paying-for-hospice page and Medicare.gov for current terms.
Parent agency / branch
The main licensed office and a branch office. Both appear as separate location records in this directory.
Service area (CMS ZIPs)
ZIP codes CMS lists a certified hospice as serving. This is a real service-area source. The county of an agency’s license address is not a service area.
TULIP
Texas Unified Licensure Information Portal, HHSC’s public lookup for licensed providers. We link out to it. We do not scrape it.