Antipsychotic Drug Use in Nursing Homes: Trend Update

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is tracking the progress of the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes by reviewing publicly reported measures. The official measure of the Partnership is the percentage of long-stay nursing home residents who are receiving an antipsychotic medication, excluding those residents diagnosed with schizophrenia, Huntington's Disease or Tourette’s Syndrome. In fourth quarter of 2011, 23.9 percent of long-stay nursing home residents were receiving an antipsychotic medication; since then there has been a decrease of 28.8 percent, to a national prevalence of 17.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. Success has varied by state and CMS region; some states and regions had a reduction greater than 25 percent.

CMS also released an Update Report that includes a brief overview of the National Partnership, activities following the release of Survey & Certification policy memorandum 14-19-NH, and next steps. Visit the National Partnership webpage for more information.