Make Your Schizophrenia Audits Faster and More Precise
Pulling data for audits through a manual process can be time-consuming and daunting. Maybe your EHR isn’t even equipped to pull all the data you need. But why should you care about making this process faster and more precise? Keep reading to find out the answer and how Fischer Health Care Consulting can help.
Recently, the Biden-Harris administration has taken additional steps to strengthen nursing home safety and transparency by reducing the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the new rules aim to improve the quality of care and the safety of nursing home residents. Nursing home administrators understand that by monitoring antipsychotic drug use in their facilities, they can reduce the risk of serious side effects, identify residents experiencing adverse effects from these medications and improve overall care at their facility.
CMS is now conducting targeted, off-site audits to determine if SNFs accurately assess and code patients with schizophrenia diagnoses. This is because SNF residents who are incorrectly diagnosed are at higher risk of poor care and are often prescribed inappropriate antipsychotic medications. In fact, antipsychotic medications can have devastating side effects in the senior population, including death.
Accurately assessing and coding patients with schizophrenia not only impacts patient safety and quality care but it also impacts SNF Five-Star Quality Ratings. If an audit finds that a SNF has a pattern of inaccurately coding residents as having schizophrenia, the facility’s Five-Star rating is negatively impacted. Inaccurate coding can lead CMS to downgrade a facility’s Quality Measure rating to one star, which also drops the Overall Star Rating.
Fischer Health Care Consulting has an audit solution that will help you quickly and accurately conduct an internal audit so you know where your facility stands. This means you’ll be able to ensure that you’re providing appropriate quality care and maintaining your CMS Five-Star Quality Rating.
Here’s how our technology helps:
Monitors any new anti-psychotic medication starts, completed BIMs and PHQ-9 assessments
Audits across multiple locations/facilities and generates one list of active or historical anti-psychotic treatments (specific drug as well), labeling which treatments have DRG associations
Breaks down usage between routine and PRN treatment
Shows which patients have an assigned psychiatric care provider