Metabolic monitoring for patients on antipsychotic medications

Patients taking antipsychotic medications live with an increased risk of developing health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and obesity. Given these risks, yearly screening and ongoing metabolic monitoring are integral to the management of antipsychotics for children, adolescents, and adults. 

Whether you’re a primary care physician, behavioral health specialist, or prescriber, you can help ensure that patients taking antipsychotic medications are receiving annual screenings by ordering or conducting in-office point of care (POC) HbA1c or fasting glucose tests for diabetes, along with regular cholesterol monitoring. Discuss the importance of having annual blood glucose and cholesterol testing with patients when they initially start on antipsychotic medications and at follow-up visits. 

If you are prescribing an antipsychotic medication as part of an inpatient behavioral health hospitalization, remember to complete metabolic testing and document baseline blood glucose levels on the discharge plan. Also, remind the patient to bring the discharge paperwork to their follow up appointment, and share discharge paperwork with the patient’s primary care physician (PCP), prescriber and any community support providers.

Please be sure to use the following approved CPT codes when billing for screenings: 

Close collaboration among primary care providers, behavioral health specialists, and prescribers is crucial when treating patients who are taking antipsychotic medications. We encourage providers to use CarePartner’s of Connecticut’s Coordination of Care Check List — or a checklist of your own — to document and share provider contacts and communicate patient diagnoses, treatments, and other information beneficial to the development of an integrated care plan. Encourage patients to review and update medication lists, as needed, with their PCP, and document instructions for metabolic testing on the medication list. 

At CarePartners of Connecticut, we appreciate your commitment to closing gaps in patient care and share your dedication to ensuring that members taking antipsychotic medications receive the continuum of care they need for improved overall health.