Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Use these tools to guide nursing home prescribing.

Evidence-based tools and guidelines can help providers guide prescribing and limit the use of inappropriate medications. Here’s a list of the top resources available:

Beers List: The mother of all tools, the Beers List, (also known as the Beers Criteria) was released in 1991, but the tool has been updated over the years. The Beers List initially focused on medications to avoid in nursing homes, but as it has been revised, it has been recast as “a list of medications inappropriate for the senior population regardless of where they reside or receive care,” according the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). A printable Beers pocket card and other materials updated for 2015 are available at http://geriatricscareonline.org/ProductAbstract/american-geriatrics-society-updated-beers-criteria-for-potentially-inappropriate-medication-use-in-older-adults/CL001 .

STOPP Criteria: STOPP stands for Screening Tool of Older Peoples Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions. This tool lists 65 “clinically significant criteria that can help flag inappropriate prescribing in older adults,” according to Leading Age. Each criterion provides a concise explanation of why the prescribing practice may be inappropriate. Providers may also find the companion START (Screening Tool to Alert Doctors to Right Treatments) Criteria helpful. It includes 22 evidence-based prescribing guides for diseases common among nursing home residents. For more information on STOPP and START, access the free Archives of Internal Medicine article at http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=227481 .