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National falls prevention awareness day

Medical Environment Update, September 1, 2019

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

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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