New AHRQ Resource on Reducing Patient Falls

​The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new online resource that specifically focuses on reducing falls that occur during a patient's hospital stay (ECRI Institute notes that although the guide is designed for use in hospitals, CCRM members may find the overarching approach or individual tools to be helpful). Nearly one million patients fall in U.S. hospitals each year. Prepared for AHRQ by the RAND Corporation, ECRI Institute, and the Boston University School of Public Health, Preventing Falls in Hospitals: A Toolkit for Improving Quality of Care addresses how to overcome the challenges associated with developing, implementing, and sustaining a falls prevention program in the hospital. To help organizations implement a successful initiative to improve falls prevention on a sustained basis, the information in the toolkit is broken into six sections that pose the following questions: (1) Are you ready for this change?