Hospice agencies · Updated 2026-09-04
The best hospice software in 2026
Hospice agencies run on regulatory deadlines most software wasn’t built for: interdisciplinary-group documentation is a legal requirement of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, not a nice-to-have, and since October 2025 every certified hospice must submit the new HOPE assessment through CMS’s iQIES system or risk a 4% payment cut. Add levels-of-care billing that swings between routine home care and general inpatient care, and generic home-health or EHR software quickly runs out of depth. We compared the platforms agencies actually run on, from enterprise-scale incumbents to a transparent-pricing option built for small, independent hospices. No paid placements — just the real market, with indicative pricing where it exists.
The picks at a glance
| Software | Best for | Indicative pricing |
|---|
| Axxess Hospice | Agencies wanting AI-assisted workflows inside a broader Axxess home-health-and-hospice ecosystem | quote-based |
| WellSky Hospice & Palliative | Multi-service post-acute organizations wanting hospice and home health on one vendor | quote-based |
| MatrixCare Hospice | Mid-to-large hospice or combined home-health-and-hospice agencies wanting deep interoperability | quote-based |
| Netsmart myUnity | Agencies wanting a long-tenured, CHAP-verified EHR with responsive vendor support | quote-based, priced against average daily census |
| Homecare Homebase (HCHB) | Large or multi-site hospice organizations wanting the market’s most-adopted enterprise platform | quote-based |
| Hospice Tools | Small and independent hospice agencies wanting transparent per-user pricing | from ~$85/month per user (eDocs EMR + TimeKeeper; eBilling RCM priced separately) |
Pricing is indicative, checked at the date above — plans change; always confirm with the vendor. We have no paid relationship with any editor listed here.
The contenders, in detail
1. Axxess Hospice
Pricing : quote-based
Agencies wanting AI-assisted workflows inside a broader Axxess home-health-and-hospice ecosystem
Axxess Hospice is a cloud EHR built for hospice agencies, covering interdisciplinary group documentation, HOPE-aligned assessments, scheduling and AI-assisted care-plan and staffing tools inside the wider Axxess home-healthcare platform.
Strengths
- +Nursing and clinical workflows are consistently rated intuitive by field staff
- +AI-assisted care planning and predictive analytics aim to flag hospitalization and readmission risk early
- +Part of a wider Axxess suite, useful for agencies running home health and hospice together
Watch out for
- −Pricing is not published and several reviewers report it running well above competitors for comparable scope
- −Users report gaps in ancillary-service integration and limited data export
2. WellSky Hospice & Palliative
Pricing : quote-based
Multi-service post-acute organizations wanting hospice and home health on one vendor
WellSky Hospice & Palliative is the hospice line of one of the largest post-acute-care technology vendors, with DEA-certified e-prescribing, a HOPE-compliance dashboard, a family portal and analytics, usually deployed alongside WellSky’s home health product for agencies running both service lines.
Strengths
- +Broad suite: e-prescribing, HOPE documentation dashboard and family/referral portal in one system
- +Backed by one of the largest post-acute vendors, with regular regulatory-update releases
- +Referral and interdisciplinary scheduling centralize on a single record
Watch out for
- −Reviewers rate value for money low relative to the feature list, and describe support tickets as slow to resolve
- −Several users report disputes over what the license covers versus what billing services actually deliver
3. MatrixCare Hospice
Pricing : quote-based
Mid-to-large hospice or combined home-health-and-hospice agencies wanting deep interoperability
MatrixCare Hospice, a ResMed-owned cloud EHR distinct from MatrixCare’s senior-living product line, covers interdisciplinary charting, an offline-capable iPad app for field visits and revenue-cycle management, with interoperability through CommonWell and Carequality.
Strengths
- +Offline iPad charting lets field staff document in the home without a laptop
- +Reduces duplicate charting and gives real-time visibility into required documents before billing
- +Strong interoperability via CommonWell and Carequality networks
Watch out for
- −Reviewers describe routine visit documentation as too lengthy for the time nurses have
- −Users report recurring price increases and glitches around system upgrades
4. Netsmart myUnity
Pricing : quote-based, priced against average daily census
Agencies wanting a long-tenured, CHAP-verified EHR with responsive vendor support
Netsmart myUnity (formerly DeVero) is an ONC-certified, CHAP-verified EHR for home health, hospice and palliative care, priced against an agency’s average daily census, with configurable programs for seniors, adults and youth populations.
Strengths
- +CHAP-verified and ONC-certified for both home health and hospice settings
- +Support responsiveness is a recurring positive in user reviews, unusual for the category
- +Configurable across different patient populations and care programs
Watch out for
- −Initial training is repeatedly described as poor or too lengthy
- −Implementation and ongoing fees can strain smaller agencies, and reporting is described as complex
5. Homecare Homebase (HCHB)
Pricing : quote-based
Large or multi-site hospice organizations wanting the market’s most-adopted enterprise platform
Homecare Homebase (HCHB) is a purpose-built hospice and home-health platform used by a majority of the largest US hospice agencies, with AI-assisted intake and hospitalization-risk prediction, deployed as a full enterprise implementation rather than a self-serve signup.
Strengths
- +Used by 8 of the top 10 US hospice agencies, per the vendor, giving it the deepest enterprise track record in the category
- +In-depth reporting and real-time patient data across a large field workforce
- +AI features aimed at hospitalization-risk prediction and faster intake
Watch out for
- −User satisfaction is polarized in independent reviews, and implementation runs as a multi-month enterprise project
- −Reviewers describe the workflow as heavily nurse-centric, with less built for social workers and chaplains
6. Hospice Tools
Pricing : from ~$85/month per user (eDocs EMR + TimeKeeper; eBilling RCM priced separately)
Small and independent hospice agencies wanting transparent per-user pricing
Hospice Tools is an EMR and billing suite built specifically for independent and small hospice and palliative-care agencies, with flat per-user pricing for its core eDocs EMR and TimeKeeper timesheet modules rather than a census-based enterprise contract.
Strengths
- +Rare, published flat per-user pricing in a category dominated by quote-based enterprise deals
- +High user satisfaction on independent review sites (4.7/5 across 166+ Capterra reviews)
- +Discipline-specific tabs keep interdisciplinary notes organized and visible to the whole team
Watch out for
- −Users report bugs around calendar updates, document saving and session timeouts that can lose unsaved notes
- −Optional modules like eBilling RCM require a custom quote, so the all-in cost still needs confirming
Free shortlist
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How to choose
01HOPE-ready compliance, not bolted on
Since October 1, 2025, CMS requires every certified hospice to submit the HOPE assessment through iQIES at set points across a patient’s stay, replacing the old Hospice Item Set — miss the 90% timely-submission threshold and Medicare cuts your payment by 4%. Confirm your shortlist actually supports HOPE Update Visits today, not on a roadmap.
02Field documentation that survives a bad connection
Hospice visits happen in private homes, nursing facilities and moving vehicles, often with unreliable Wi-Fi or cellular signal. Test the mobile app offline, not just in a demo on the office network — a documentation gap in end-of-life care is a clinical and compliance problem at once.
03Built for the whole interdisciplinary group, not just nursing
The Medicare Hospice Benefit legally requires care from an interdisciplinary group — physician, nurse, social worker, chaplain, aide and volunteer coordinator. Ask specifically how the software supports social workers and chaplains, since several vendors here are candidly described by reviewers as built nursing-first.
04Levels-of-care billing and the aggregate cap
Hospice billing moves between routine home care, continuous home care, inpatient respite and general inpatient care, and agencies must track the annual hospice aggregate cap across their whole census. Verify the revenue-cycle module actually models these levels of care rather than treating hospice like generic home-health billing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need HOPE-compliant software now that HIS is retired?
Yes, in practice: CMS finalized the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool in the FY2025 Hospice Wage Index rule, data collection started October 1, 2025, and submissions now go through iQIES instead of the old QIES/HIS system, with HOPE Update Visits during the first 30 days of a hospice election adding new timepoints HIS never required. All six vendors compared here market HOPE support, but ask each one to show you the actual submission workflow and current compliance rate before you sign, since this is still a recent transition.
What does hospice software actually cost?
Published pricing is rare in this category: Hospice Tools is the outlier at a flat ~$85/month per user for its core EMR and timesheet modules, while Axxess Hospice, WellSky, MatrixCare, Netsmart myUnity and Homecare Homebase are all quote-based, with Netsmart pricing tied to your average daily census. Budget implementation time as a real cost too, especially for HCHB or WellSky, where reviewers describe onboarding as a multi-month enterprise project.
What’s the right fit for a small, independent hospice versus a large multi-site organization?
Homecare Homebase, WellSky and Netsmart myUnity are built and priced for larger or multi-site operations and carry enterprise-length implementations to match. Hospice Tools is the clearest fit for a small or independent agency that wants transparent per-user pricing without a census-based contract, and Axxess sits in between with a broader home-health-and-hospice ecosystem. Match the vendor’s typical customer size to your own before a demo, not after.
We run home health and hospice together — does that change the shortlist?
It does: WellSky, MatrixCare, Netsmart myUnity and Homecare Homebase all offer paired home-health and hospice products on one record, which avoids re-entering patients who transition between services. Hospice Tools and Axxess Hospice are more hospice-specific — if home health is a large share of your census, weigh that combined-platform advantage against Hospice Tools’ simpler, hospice-only pricing.