The Washington Post (3/19, Rowland) says a new HHS OIG report (PDF) released Thursday states that “many U.S. nursing homes are creating phony schizophrenia diagnoses to hide their use of dangerous antipsychotic drugs to subdue dementia patients.” The Post explains that a “diagnosis of schizophrenia allows nursing homes to avoid reporting use of the drugs and artificially improve quality-Star ratings on the government’s Medicare consumer website.” The OIG report said, “We found that nursing homes inappropriately diagnosed schizophrenia to mask their misuse of antipsychotic drugs, artificially inflate their Star rating, and skirt established safeguards meant to protect residents.” The OIG’s findings also “come as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services…is considering relaxing its reporting standards for antipsychotic use.”
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