08/15/2025
According to the National Committee for Quality Assurance, antipsychotic prescribing for children and adolescents has increased in recent decades. These medications can elevate a child’s risk for developing serious metabolic health complications associated with poor cardiometabolic outcomes in adulthood. Given these risks, metabolic monitoring through blood glucose and cholesterol testing is an important component of appropriate management.
Supporting quality care: We track the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) measure Metabolic Monitoring for Children and Adolescents on Antipsychotics. This measure captures the percentage of children ages 1 to 17 who had two or more antipsychotic prescriptions and had metabolic testing. Three rates are reported:
- Blood glucose testing
- Cholesterol testing
- Blood glucose and cholesterol testing
A higher rate represents more proper testing, which indicates better performance.
Resources
- Preventive care guidelines, including immunization schedules
- Texas Immunization Registry ImmTrac2
- Quality Improvement Toolkits
- Texas Health Steps
The above material is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician or other health care provider. Physicians and other health care providers are encouraged to use their own medical judgment based upon all available information and the condition of the patient in determining the appropriate course of treatment. The fact that a service or treatment is described in this material, is not a guarantee that the service or treatment is a covered benefit and members should refer to their certificate of coverage for more details, including benefits, limitations and exclusions. Regardless of benefits, the final decision about any service or treatment is between the member and their health care provider.
HEDIS is a registered trademark of NCQA. Use of this resource is subject to NCQA’s copyright, found here.