Physician Practice

National falls prevention awareness day

Medical Environment Update, September 1, 2019

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By Brian Ward

In honor of National Falls Prevention Day on September 22, we’ve made a list of several helpful resources. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), between 700,000 and 1 million patients fall in the hospital each year. Sometimes fall injuries can be slight. But in 30%–35% of cases, these preventable events can result in broken bones, cuts, internal bleeding, concussions, or death. And every fall costs a hospital an average of $14,056 in non-reimbursable expenses.

Facilities have a long way to go before this problem is solved. Make sure to check your hospital’s falls prevention program: Are staff following it? Are they reporting falls when they happen? How many falls do you have per year? How can your facility improve?

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Environment Update.

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