Spotlight on Policy

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a study report, “Long-Term Trends of Psychotropic Drug Use in Nursing Homes.” The study found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) efforts since 2011 had reduced the use of antipsychotics among long-stay nursing home residents, but the prescribing of anticonvulsants had increased. This meant that overall psychotropic drug use remained relatively constant, with 80% of long-stay nursing home residents prescribed a psychotropic drug.