Lower Cape Fear Lifecare in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Name	Lower Cape Fear Lifecare
Location	350 Hilton Rd Suite 301, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Hospice ID	421501
Category	Freestanding Hospice
Ownership Type	Non-profit - Private
Profit Type	Non-profit
Accreditation Provider	Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC)
SSA county code	250

A hospice usually has one NPI number, but sometimes it may have several. NPIs marked Confirmed are listed with Lower Cape Fear Lifecare in Medicare enrollment records; Possible ones were matched in NPPES by name, address or phone number, so please use them accordingly.

NPI Number	1427053081
Match	Confirmed listed in Medicare enrollment records
Organization Name	Lower Cape Fear Hospice, Incorporated
Address	1314 3rd Ave, Conway, South Carolina 29526
Phone Number	(843)848-6480

Hospice staff should discuss treatment preferences and patient beliefs and values with patients and/or caregivers. They should also identify and provide interventions to address pain, shortness of breath and constipation (caused by opioids) to improve patient comfort and quality of life. Lower Cape Fear Lifecare has the following score in these measures of patient care.
Better than National Average Worse than National Average

Quality Measure	Provider Score	National Score
Patients or caregivers who were asked about treatment preferences like hospitalization and resuscitation at the beginning of hospice care	100.00	99.8
Patients or caregivers who were asked about their beliefs and values at the beginning of hospice care	100.00	99.27
Patients who were checked for pain at the beginning of hospice care	100.00	99
Patients who got a timely and thorough pain assessment when pain was identified as a problem	97.32	98.27
Patients who were checked for shortness of breath at the beginning of hospice care	100.00	99.53
Patients who got timely treatment for shortness of breath	100.00	98.59
Patients taking opioid pain medication who were offered care for constipation	100.00	98.46
Patients who got all 7 of the care processes above at the beginning of hospice care	98.64	96.15
Patients who got in-person visits from a registered nurse or medical social worker on at least 2 of the last 3 days of life	79.7	48.3

Scores are percentages of patients, for care from October 2024 to September 2025 (visits in the last days of life: January 2023 to December 2024).

Medicare asks family members and friends who cared for a patient in hospice about their experience (CAHPS Hospice Survey).
9 or 10 Caregivers rated the hospice agency a 9 or 10 (national: 83%)
7 or 8 Caregivers rated the hospice agency a 7 or 8 (national: 13%)
6 or lower Caregivers rated the hospice agency a 6 or lower (national: 4%)

Definitely yes YES, they would definitely recommend the hospice (national: 85%)
Probably yes YES, they would probably recommend the hospice (national: 11%)
No NO, they would probably not or definitely not recommend the hospice (national: 4%)

Always The hospice team always communicated well (national: 82%)
Usually The hospice team usually communicated well (national: 12%)
Sometimes or Never The hospice team sometimes or never communicated well (national: 6%)

Always The hospice team always provided timely help (national: 78%)
Usually The hospice team usually provided timely help (national: 13%)
Sometimes or Never The hospice team sometimes or never provided timely help (national: 9%)

Always The hospice team always treated the patient with respect (national: 91%)
Usually The hospice team usually treated the patient with respect (national: 7%)
Sometimes or Never The hospice team sometimes or never treated the patient with respect (national: 2%)

Always The patient always got the help they needed for pain and symptoms (national: 76%)
Usually The patient usually got the help they needed for pain and symptoms (national: 15%)
Sometimes or Never The patient sometimes or never got the help they needed for pain and symptoms (national: 9%)

Right amount The hospice team provided the right amount of emotional and spiritual support (national: 91%)
Not the right amount The hospice team did not provide the right amount of emotional and spiritual support (national: 9%)

Survey period: October 2023 to September 2025.

The Hospice Care Index combines 10 indicators from Medicare claims into a score from 0 to 10, where a higher score is better. Lower Cape Fear Lifecare has a Hospice Care Index score of 10 out of 10 (national average: 8.8).

Indicator	Provider	National
Days of care at the continuous home care or general inpatient level (% of hospice days) (higher is better)	0.5%	0.5%
Hospice stays with a gap of more than 7 days between skilled nursing visits (% of stays) (lower is better)	40%	52.4%
Patients discharged alive within 7 days of starting hospice (% of live discharges) (lower is better)	4.8%	7.3%
Patients discharged alive after 180 days or more of hospice care (% of live discharges) (lower is better)	28.6%	37.4%
Discharged alive, hospitalized within 2 days, then back in hospice (% of live discharges) (lower is better)	0%	8.5%
Discharged alive, hospitalized within 2 days and died in the hospital (% of live discharges) (lower is better)	0%	2.1%
Medicare spending per patient (lower is better)	$12,093	$19,227
Minutes of skilled nursing care per routine home care day (higher is better)	18.3	19.9
Skilled nursing care given on weekends (% of skilled nursing minutes) (higher is better)	9%	9.6%
Patients who got a visit from a nurse or social worker in the last 3 days of life (% of patients who died) (higher is better)	97.4%	89.3%

Based on Medicare claims from January 2023 to December 2024.

Average number of patients per day	48
Levels of care provided	Routine home care and other levels of care
Served patients with Medicare Advantage	Yes
Served patients with both Medicare and Medicaid	Yes

Patients by main condition

Cancer	27%
Dementia	23%
Stroke	6%
Circulatory or heart disease	19%
Respiratory disease	11%
Other conditions	14%

Where care was provided (% of days of care)

Home	75%
Assisted living facility	19%
Nursing facility	4%
Skilled nursing facility	1%
Inpatient hospital	0%
Inpatient hospice facility	1%
Other locations	0%

Hospices provide various services either through their own staff or through third-party arrangements. Find the list of services provided by Lower Cape Fear Lifecare below:

• By staff
  • Home Health Aide Service
  • Counseling Service
  • Medical Social Service
  • Nursing Service
  • Short Term Inpatient care
  • Other Services


• Under Arrangement
  • Medical Supply Service
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Speech Pathology


• Combination of Staff and Under Arrangement
  • Physician Service


• Type of Short Term Inpatient Care
  • Acute

Number of full time equivalent employees at Lower Cape Fear Lifecare

Home Health Aides	3.1
Counselors	1
Medical Social Workers	1
Physicians	0.15
Registered Nurses	5
Other Personnel	1.1
Total Employees	11.35

Others	0.01
Total Volunteers	0.01

• November, 2021 is the initial visit of the health survey for certifications by CMS.
• It is not eligible to participate in the medicare and/or medicaid program.
• Current status is Active.

What is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is a type of care and philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a chronically ill, terminally ill or seriously ill patient's pain and symptoms, and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs. Care may be provided in a patient's home or in a designated facility such as nursing home, hospital unit or freestanding hospice, with level of care and sometimes location based upon frequent evaluation of the patient's needs. The four primary levels of care provided by hospice are routine home care, continuous care, general inpatient and respite care.

How long can one get medicare hospice care?
Hospice care is for people with a life expectancy of 6 months or less (if the disease runs its normal course). If the person receiving hospice care lives longer than 6 months, he or she can still get hospice care.

• A person can get hospice care for two 90-day benefit periods, followed by an unlimited number of 60-day benefit periods.
• At the start of each period, the hospice medical director or other hospice doctor must recertify that the person is terminally ill (with a life expectancy of 6 months or less). This step is required for continued hospice care.