Maine Partnership to Improve Dementia Care to Resume Work

• By: Nadine Grosso
• On: 08/05/2021 10:52:53
• In: Announcements/Reminders

Due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maine Partnership to Improve Dementia Care paused its work, but is now resuming efforts to support long term care providers in reducing the off label use of antipsychotic medications.
 
According to CMS data through Q4 2020, Maine achieved a 23.9% reduction in the use of antipsychotic medications since the beginning of the national effort in 2011. Maine led reduction efforts early in the program, however, currently stands at a prevalence rate of 20.7%, which is higher than the national prevalence of 14.5% in 2020 Q4. Despite reporting approximately only a 1% increase in utilization from 2019-2020, Maine lags behind much of the country whose rates are less than 20%.
 
Partnership members will be analyzing this data more in depth to identify trends, factors and opportunities for improvement. Members should anticipate outreach to leadership and medical directors.
 
CMS tracks the overall progress of the Partnership by reviewing publicly reported measures. As a reminder, the official measure of the Partnership is a the percent 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.
 
Staff contact: ngrosso@mehca.org