Problems Remain in Reviews of Medicaid-Financed Drug Therapy in Nursing Homes

Medicaid pays for about half of all nursing home care in the United States. To help ensure the quality of that care, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) has set up a number of procedures, including a monthly review of each patient's drugs to determine if they are still needed, effective, and safe for the patient. Because of the major role drugs play in the treatment of elderly patients in nursing homes and the potential hazards of drug therapy, GAO evaluated the effectiveness of the medication review portion of HEW regulations and procedures. The review was limited to the examination of the records of randomly selected Medicaid nursing home patients. It adopted as a standard criteria based on standards developed by five professional standards review organizations.