As of January 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will add a new method for capturing antipsychotic medication use among long-stay residents in skilled nursing facilities.
In addition to MDS-based data from section N, CMS is now using claims data to identify antipsychotic use. Because of this expanded data set, some facilities may notice an increase in their long-stay antipsychotic quality measure.
For instance, if a medication like prochlorperazine — commonly ordered for nausea — is omitted from the MDS due to a lack of awareness that it is classified as a first-generation antipsychotic, it will now be captured for the quality measure through Part D claims.
Effective January 2026 this change will be reflected in the Care Compare.gov publicly reported data. Review the revised Quality Measures User’s Manual for Long Stay Antipsychotic Measures.