HCFA long-term care draft guidelines encourage increased treatment of depression.

Executive Summary

ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT BEHAVIORAL CHARTS NOT REQUIRED IN MEDICARE long-term care facilities, a Health Care Financing Administration draft guidance states. Behavioral charts are recommended in the HCFA long-term care guidelines for antipsychotic and anxiolytic/sedative drugs such as benzodiazepines, "but NOT for antidepressant drugs," the guidance states. HCFA says that while the charts may be helpful for monitoring the effects of antidepressants in nursing homes, "they may place an additional paperwork burden on the facility and thus act as a deterrent to the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of this condition."