Antipsychotic use in long-stay nursing homes has decreased 21.7% over the past four years, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Data from the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes shows 18.7% of nursing home residents received antipsychotics in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 23.9% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The American Health Care Association reported in the first quarter of 2015, its members created a 23% decrease in antipsychotic use. In May, AHCA announced it would be expanding its Quality Initiative. First launched in 2012, the initiative calls for members to reduce antipsychotics by 30% by the end of 2016.
Still, “CMS is now proposing restrictive documentation regulations on how these medications can be prescribed,” warned AHCA’s David Gifford, M.D.
From the September 01, 2015 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News