Mom is having difficulty and is progressing in her disease. The facility called and wants to change her medications. Mom is sensitive to medication changes, so I did some homework and came across this article. "Starting immediately, the federal government is making it harder for nursing homes to get top grades on a public report card, in part by increasing scrutiny of their use of anti-psychotic drugs and raising the bar on an array of quality measure." 

I believe is this will help with abuse of medications in some nursing homes. However, for those already on these medications, this can have an adverse affect. 

I held off for as long as possible with mom taking these types of medications but there did come a time when the benefits outweighed the risks. Now they want to take mom off of them. As POA, they always inform me of a recommended change and we discuss the best course of action. I'm working with the doctor to come up with the best treatment to help mom as she is declining and progressing. 

The new policy is good, IMHO, and should decrease the misuse of these medications in facilities. However patients' needs should come before ratings. Although nothing has changed, mom's facility has dropped a star this week due to this new system. 

How do you all feel about this new rating system, and what impact do you think it will have?