Reason for Not Prescribing Statin Medication at Discharge (v2023B)

Specifications Manual for Joint Commission National Quality Measures (v2023B)

Posted: 02/03/2023

Print this page

Home » Reason for Not Prescribing Statin Medication at Discharge

Release Notes:
Data Element
Version 2023B

Name:

Reason for Not Prescribing Statin Medication at Discharge

Collected For:

STK-6

Definition:

Reasons for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge:

Statin medication allergy
LDL-c less than 70 mg/dL
Other reasons documented by physician/advanced practice nurse/physician assistant (physician/APN/PA) or pharmacist

Statins are a class of pharmaceutical agents that modify LDL cholesterol by blocking the action of an enzyme in the liver which is needed to synthesize cholesterol thereby decreasing the level of cholesterol circulating in the blood.

Question:

Is there documentation of a reason for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge?

Format:

Length:	1
Type:	Alphanumeric
Occurs:	1

Allowable Values:

Y (Yes) There is documentation of a reason for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge.

N (No) There is no documentation of a reason for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge, OR unable to determine from medical record documentation.

Notes for Abstraction:

A statin medication “allergy” or “sensitivity” documented at any time during the hospital stay counts as an allergy regardless of what type of reaction might be noted (e.g., “Allergies: Atorvastatin – Nausea” – select “Yes”).
Documentation of an allergy/sensitivity to one particular statin medication is acceptable to take as an allergy to the entire class of statin medications (e.g., “Allergic to Lipitor”).
Documentation of a LDL-c less than 70 mg/dL anytime during the hospital stay is an acceptable stand-alone reason for not prescribing statin medication at discharge – Linkage with statin is not needed. If more than one LDL value is documented, the highest value must be less than 70 mg/dL. Direct or calculated fasting or non-fasting values are both acceptable. LDL values obtained within 30 days prior to hospital arrival are acceptable to select “Yes.”
When conflicting information is documented in a medical record, select “Yes.”
Reasons for not administering statin therapy must be documented by a physician/APN/PA or pharmacist with one exception: Patient/family refusal of any form of statin therapy (e.g., “Lipitor refused,” “Patient refusing statin therapy”) may be documented by a nurse.
In determining whether there is a reason documented by physician/APN/PA or pharmacist for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge:
- Reasons must be explicitly documented (e.g., “Chronic liver failure – Statins contraindicated,” “Hx muscle soreness with statins in past”) or clearly implied (e.g., “No evidence of atherosclerosis – no statin therapy,” “Pt. refusing all medications,” “Supportive care only – no medication,” “Statins not indicated,” “No statin medications” [no reason given]). If reasons are not mentioned in the context of statin medications, do not make inferences (e.g., do not assume that a statin medication is not being prescribed because of the patient’s history of alcoholism or severe liver disease alone).
- Documentation of "do not continue" or “do not convert” a home statin medication to an inpatient medication, or an inpatient statin medication to a discharge medication, does not count as a reason for not prescribing statin medication at discharge. Do not infer that a statin medication was not prescribed or discontinued without explicit documentation of a reason for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge.
  Example:
  Patient on Atorvastatin 80 mg while an inpatient. During discharge medication reconciliation, physician checks “do not convert” box next to atorvastatin, select “No.”
- Reason documentation which refers to a more general medication class is not acceptable (e.g., “No cholesterol-reducers,” “Hold all lipid-lowering medications”).
- Deferral of statin medication from one physician/APN/PA or pharmacist to another does NOT count as a reason for not prescribing a statin medication unless the problem underlying the deferral is also noted.
  Examples:
  - “Consulting neurologist to evaluate pt. for statin therapy” - select “No.”
  - “Severe diarrhea. Start statin if OK with neurology.” - select "Yes.”
- If there is documentation of a plan to initiate/restart a statin medication, and the reason/problem underlying the delay in starting/restarting the medication is also noted, this constitutes a “clearly implied” reason for not prescribing a statin medication at discharge.
  Acceptable examples (select “Yes”):
  - “Liver enzymes high. May start lovastatin as outpatient.”
  - “Add statin if myalgias resolve”
  Unacceptable examples (select “No”):
  - “Consider starting statins in a.m.”
  - “May add Zocor when pt. can tolerate.”
- Reasons do NOT need to be documented at discharge or otherwise linked to the discharge timeframe: Documentation of reasons anytime during the hospital stay are acceptable (e.g., mid-hospitalization note stating “no statin medications due to abnormal liver enzymes” - select “Yes,” even if documentation indicates that the liver enzyme levels normalized by the time of discharge and the lipid-lowering medication was restarted).
- Statin medications may also be referred to as HMG CoA reductase inhibitors
- When the current record includes documentation of a pre-arrival reason for no statin medication, the following counts regardless of whether this documentation is included in a pre-arrival record made part of the current record or whether it is noted by hospital staff during the current hospital stay:
  Examples:
  - "Pre-arrival statin allergy"
  - "Hx muscle soreness to statins in past" documented in a transferring record.

Suggested Data Sources:

Consultation notes
Emergency department record
History and physical
Progress notes
Physician orders
Discharge summary
Medication administration record (MAR)
After Visit Summary (AVS)
Medication reconciliation form

Excluded Data Sources: Any documentation dated/timed after discharge, except discharge summary.

Additional Notes:

Guidelines for Abstraction:

Inclusion	Exclusion
None Refer to Appendix C, Table 8.1 for a comprehensive list of Statin Medications.	None

Specifications Manual for Joint Commission National Quality Measures (v2023B)
Discharges 07-01-23 (3Q23) through 12-31-23 (4Q23)

LICENSE FOR USE OF CURRENT PROCEDURAL TERMINOLOGY, FOURTH EDITION (“CPT®”)

You, your employees and agents are authorized to use CPT® only as contained in The Joint Commission performance measures solely for your own personal use in directly participating in healthcare programs administered by The Joint Commission. You acknowledge that the American Medical Association (“AMA”) holds all copyright, trademark and other rights in CPT®.

Any use not authorized herein is prohibited, including by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, making copies of CPT® for resale and/or license, transferring copies of CPT® to any party not bound by this Agreement, creating any modified or derivative work of CPT®, or making any commercial use of CPT®. License to use CPT® for any use not authorized herein must be obtained through the American Medical Association, Intellectual Property Services, AMA Plaza, 330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 39300, Chicago, Illinois 60611-5885. Applications are available at the American Medical Association Web site, www.ama- assn.org/go/cpt.

U.S. Government Rights This product includes CPT® which is commercial technical data, which was developed exclusively at private expense by the American Medical Association, 330 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611. The American Medical Association does not agree to license CPT® to the Federal Government based on the license in FAR 52.227-14 (Data Rights - General) and DFARS 252.227-7015 (Technical Data - Commercial Items) or any other license provision. The American Medical Association reserves all rights to approve any license with any Federal agency.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Liabilities. CPT® is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Fee schedules, relative value units, conversion factors and/or related components are not assigned by the AMA, are not part of CPT®, and the (AMA is not recommending their use. The AMA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services. The responsibility for the content of this product is with The Joint Commission, and no endorsement by the AMA is intended or implied. The AMA disclaims responsibility for any consequences or liability attributable to or related to any use, non-use, or interpretation of information contained or not contained in this product.

This Agreement will terminate upon notice if you violate its terms. The AMA is a third party beneficiary to this Agreement.

Should the foregoing terms and conditions be acceptable to you, please indicate your agreement and acceptance by clicking below on the button labeled “accept”.