Home Health & Hospice Week
Feds Want Lower Use Of Antipsychotics At Home
GAO report focuses on antipsychotics for dementia patients.
For some time, nursing homes have been under intense scrutiny for antipsychotic prescribing for older adults. But that focus may expand to home care soon if the Government Accountability Office gets its way.
A recent GAO report investigates the prevalence of antipsychotic drug use in older adults with dementia who reside inside and outside nursing homes. The GAO analyzed 2012 Medicare Part D drug event claims and nursing home assessment data to provide prescribing data for its report. The antipsychotic prescribing data excluded older adults with diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
About one-third of older adults with dementia who spent more than 100 days in a nursing home in 2012 were prescribed an antipsychotic, the GAO found. That same year, about 14 percent of Medicare Part D beneficiaries living outside of a nursing home were prescribed an antipsychotic drug.
The GAO recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services expand its outreach and educational efforts focused on reducing antipsychotic use among older adults with dementia. “Educational efforts similar to those provided for nursing homes should be extended to other settings,” the GAO says. “Extending educational efforts to caregivers and providers outside of the nursing home could help lower the use of antipsychotics among older adults with dementia living both inside and outside of nursing homes.”
The GAO also wants HHS to update the National Alzheimer’s Plan. HHS agreed with the GAO’s recommendation.
Note: The report is at www.gao.gov/assets/670/668221.pdf.
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