Psychotropic medication prescribing in assisted living and nursing home residents with dementia after the National Partnership

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes (the Partnership) to decrease antipsychotic use and improve care for nursing home (NH) residents with dementia. We determined whether the extent of antipsychotic and other psychotropic medication prescribing in AL residents with dementia mirrored that of long‐stay NH (LSNH) residents after the Partnership. METHODS: Using a 20% sample of fee‐for‐service Medicare beneficiaries with Part D, we conducted a retrospective cohort study including AL and LSNH residents with dementia. The monthly prevalence of psychotropic medication prescribing (antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics/sedative‐hypnotics, anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines, and antidementia medications) was examined. We used an interrupted time‐series analysis to compare medication prescribing before (July 1, 2010–March 31, 2012) and after (April 1, 2012–December 31, 2017) the Partnership in both settings. RESULTS: We identified 107,931 beneficiaries with ≥1 month as an AL resident and 323,766 beneficiaries with ≥1 month as a LSNH resident with dementia, including 1,923,867 person‐months and 4,984,405 person‐months, respectively. Antipsychotic prescribing declined over the study period in both settings. After the launch of the Partnership, the rate of decline in antipsychotic prescribing slowed in AL residents with dementia (slope change = 0.03 [95% CLs: 0.02, 0.04]) while the rate of decline in antipsychotic prescribing increased in LSNH residents with dementia (slope change = −0.12 [95% CLs: −0.16, −0.08]). Antidepressants were the most prevalent medication prescribed, anticonvulsant/mood stabilizer prescribing increased, and anxiolytic/sedative‐hypnotic and antidementia medication prescribing declined. CONCLUSIONS: The federal Partnership to reduce antipsychotic prescribing in NH residents did not appear to affect antipsychotic prescribing in AL residents with dementia. Given the increase in the prescribing of mood stabilizers/anticonvulsants that occurred after the launch of the Partnership, monitoring may be warranted for all psychotropic medications in AL and NH settings.