Two federal oversight reports released Thursday call on Medicare to do more to crack down on nursing homes’ use of antipsychotic drugs and inappropriate schizophrenia diagnoses for residents with dementia.
One problem brief issued by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General paints a stark picture of how nursing homes use antipsychotic drugs, using them as chemical restraints to make staff’s jobs easier without taking the necessary steps to protect patients. Another describes how nursing homes improperly diagnose residents with schizophrenia and artificially inflate quality ratings to hide the use of antipsychotic drugs.
This is not the first time such issues have come to light. They have been the subject of numerous studies and Congressional investigations in 2020, and the HHS OIG itself has previously focused on them. The authors said the report was intended not to break new ground but to provide more detail about the experiences of residents and caregivers and pressure the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make further regulations.
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