Welcome to Hospice Guidebook (accessible via hospiceguidebook.com). By accessing, browsing, or using this website, its directories, dynamic provider profile pages, search functions, and related features (collectively, the "Site"), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and expressly agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions ("Terms"). Usage of the Site constitutes the visitor's complete understanding and binding acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must immediately discontinue use of the Site.
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Informational Purposes Only (No Medical or Legal Advice)

• The directory, performance metrics, star ratings, and descriptive text featured on this Site are compiled exclusively for general informational and educational purposes.

• Hospice Guidebook is not a healthcare provider, medical referral service, or regulatory body.

• The content provided here does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, or legal endorsements.

• Legal, medical, or critical care decisions should never be made solely based on the layouts or data strings presented on this platform. Always consult with a qualified physician, healthcare professional, or family advisor when choosing a hospice agency.
   

Data Sources, Historical Lag, and Accuracy

• The Site aggregates public metrics pulled from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) federal database alongside custom fields provided by subscribing agencies.

• Federal Data Time Lags: Because CMS metrics are updated in delayed reporting cycles, some information displayed on this site may be dated, incomplete, or out of sync with an agency's real-time, active operational footprint.

• No Warranty of Completeness: Hospice Guidebook does not warrant or guarantee the mathematical accuracy, timing, or absolute reliability of any third-party federal data metrics, including CAHPS Star Ratings or Health Care Index (HCI) scores.
   

AI-Generated Content Notice

• Hospice Guidebook does not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate, scan, or alter any provider directory data, descriptions, or profile content. All provider listing information is either sourced directly from CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) public data or entered directly by the subscribing provider.

• AI is used in two limited, clearly-separated contexts on this Site:

  • Demonstration Images: Sample profile and directory preview images shown to prospective subscribers (for example, on pages illustrating what a Standard or Premium listing looks like) are AI-generated for illustrative purposes only. These are not real provider photos and do not depict any actual hospice agency, location, or individual.

  • Blog and Educational Articles: Some blog or educational content on this Site may be drafted with the assistance of AI tools. All such content is independently sourced from verifiable references (such as CMS/Medicare.gov, government agencies, or reputable industry publications) and reviewed by a human before publication.

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Directory Subscriptions, Badges, and Gated Features

• The Site operates a tiered directory model splitting raw historical federal data listings from premium paid placements (Standard and Premium Tiers).

• Badge Logic and Suppressions: Structural indicators like the Urgent Response Badge are conditionally gated based on active monthly subscription monetization layers. The presence or absence of a badge does not represent an official regulatory endorsement by CMS or Hospice Guidebook; it reflects a paid feature intersection layer tracking an agency's reported immediate intake availability.

• External Verification: Ranking sorts, premium badges, and custom copy block parameters are subject to change without notice. It is the user's responsibility to verify an agency’s active CMS Certification Number (CCN) status independently.
   

Reporting Errors and Corrections

• We strive to maintain an optimized, bug-free, and clean database environment. If you are a consumer, patient, family member, or hospice provider representative and identify factual inaccuracies, broken telephone routing links, incorrect zip code mapping arrays, or processing errors in the data layers, please report them to us.

• Correction Contact Email: info@hospiceguidebook.com

• Upon receipt of a valid notice, we will investigate and apply necessary updates to our static or dynamic CMS collection layers in accordance with our administrative cycles.
   

Billing, Subscriptions & Cancellations​

• Hospice Guidebook provider subscriptions are available in Basic, Standard, and Premium tiers, billed either on a recurring monthly basis or, where selected, on a recurring annual basis (Standard - Annual and Premium - Annual). Both monthly and annual plans automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle until canceled.

• You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account dashboard. When you cancel, your subscription remains active through the end of the billing period you've already paid for (whether monthly or annual), and no further charges will be made. We do not provide refunds or proration for the unused portion of a billing period, for either monthly or annual plans.

• Subscription tiers, pricing, and available features are described on our Pricing page and may be updated from time to time; changes will not affect a billing period you've already paid for.
   

Subscriber Content Standards

• By claiming a listing and/or submitting any content to your provider profile — including but not limited to descriptions, photos, contact fields, service-area ZIP codes, and any other subscriber-entered fields (collectively, "Subscriber Content") — you agree to the following:

  1. Authorization to Claim You represent and warrant that you are authorized to claim and manage this listing on behalf of the hospice provider identified. [ATTORNEY REVIEW: what is our policy/procedure if two or more parties claim the same listing, or if a claim is disputed by the provider itself? Recommend defining a resolution process — e.g., verification documentation required, right to suspend the listing pending resolution — and stating that outcome here.]

  2. Accuracy and Currency You warrant that all Subscriber Content is accurate and that you will keep it current. Hospice Guidebook does not independently verify or warrant the accuracy of Subscriber Content on your behalf, and disclaims all liability arising from inaccurate, outdated, or misleading Subscriber Content.

  3. Prohibited Content Subscriber Content — in any subscriber-available field, including but not limited to descriptions, photos, images, uploaded documents, and any free-text field — must not contain: - Offensive, discriminatory, or inflammatory material, including but not limited to content that is political, religious, racial, ethnic, or otherwise likely to offend on the basis of a protected characteristic - References, direct or indirect, to any other hospice provider, competing agency, or competing location — including by name, by implication, by comparison, or by any other means reasonably understood to identify a competitor [see item 4 below] - Any web address, URL, or domain reference of any kind, in any format (including obfuscated formats such as "dotcom," "dot com," "[.]com," spelled-out extensions, or similar), other than through the designated website field included with your subscription tier - Content unrelated to the specific hospice location the listing represents - Unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, or misleading content - Content that discloses another individual's personal or health information

  4. No Disparagement or Cross-Reference of Other Providers Subscriber Content may not name, describe, compare to, or otherwise reference any other hospice provider or location — whether to disparage a competitor, to promote a provider's other locations in a way that could substitute for that location's own subscription, or to otherwise misrepresent the nature, scope, or service area of the listed location. Each listing must describe only the single Medicare-certified location it represents.

  5. Contact and Link Information Website URLs, phone numbers, and email addresses may only be submitted through the designated fields provided for your subscription tier. These fields are a paid feature; attempting to include contact or website information elsewhere in Subscriber Content (e.g., embedded in a description) undermines this structure and is prohibited under Section 3 above.

  6. Review, Removal, and Enforcement Hospice Guidebook reserves the right, but has no obligation, to review Subscriber Content at any time. We may reject, edit, remove, or suspend any Subscriber Content or listing, without prior notice, that we determine — in our sole discretion — violates this section. [ATTORNEY REVIEW: what recourse do we have beyond removal for repeated or intentional violations — e.g., right to suspend or terminate the subscription without refund, right to permanently bar a claimant from re-claiming, indemnification from the subscriber for resulting claims? Recommend defining escalation path: (1) content removed/edited, (2) warning issued, (3) subscription suspended or terminated for repeat violations, consistent with our no-refund cancellation policy.]

  7. License to Display By submitting Subscriber Content, you grant Hospice Guidebook a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, reproduce, and format that content on the Site for as long as the listing or subscription remains active. 8.

  8. Indemnification [ATTORNEY REVIEW: recommend a standard indemnification clause here — subscriber agrees to indemnify Hospice Guidebook against claims arising from their Subscriber Content (e.g., a defamation claim from a competitor named in violation of Section 4, or a claim the submitted content infringes a third party's rights).]

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Limitation of Liability

• To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Hospice Guidebook, its operators, developers, and parent entities shall not be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or inability to access, this site. This includes, but is not limited to, reliance on any consumer performance indicators, unrevealed contact phone metrics, delayed automated geolocations, or any choices made regarding end-of-life care based on website layouts.
   

Modifications to Terms

• We reserve the right to modify, rewrite, or update these Terms and Conditions at any time to reflect software engineering upgrades, new feature integrations, or regulatory adjustments. Continued use of the Site following any changes indicates your full acceptance of the updated terms.