Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Reducing Falls

The Problem

Falls are a serious problem for older people, composing the largest single category of reported incidents in hospitals, according to the Joint Commision. Falls pose an even greater risk for older hospitalized patients. Even with daily fall-risk assessments, Mercy Health Center had more than twice the rate of injury-related falls than other hospitals of its size—2.4 injury falls per 1,000 patient days in late 2004 versus 1.1 for similar hospitals.

The Solution

The solution was to improve the hospital's fall prevention program by assessing the pharmacological effects of patient medications on fall risk. The Pharmacy Fall Prevention Program, where clinical pharmacists and nurses work collaboratively to generate a medication-specific fall risk score for each admission, is designed to reduce medication-related falls and their associated injuries and improve quality of care.