Case Study: Rocky Mountain Care achieves a 69% reduction in antipsychotic use with Cerner PowerChart® LTC

Rocky Mountain dramatically reduces antipsychotics usage while tracking individualized interventions

Rocky Mountain Care – Willow Springs, a long-term care facility, faced high use of antipsychotic medications among residents with dementia who exhibit behaviors such as hitting, yelling, wandering and crying. With a national push to reduce antipsychotic use, the facility needed alternatives that would keep residents calm without sedating them.

Director of nursing Sarah Young launched a Music & Memory program and other nonpharmacologic interventions (music therapy, activities, snacks), and staff tracked behaviors and intervention outcomes in Cerner’s PowerChart® LTC to identify what worked for each resident. As a result, antipsychotic use fell from 15.8% in Q2 2014 to 4.9% by early 2016 — a roughly 69% reduction (about a 10‑percentage‑point drop) tied to the behavior-tracking approach.

Rocky Mountain Care

Sarah Young

Director of nursing