Falls

Falls are a high-volume, high-risk, high-cost challenge for healthcare facilities worldwide. In addition to the serious injuries and costs associated with falls, hospitals risk financial consequences if they do not have measures in place to prevent patient falls. U.S. hospitals are at risk of losing Medicare reimbursement for the treatment of falls injuries occurring during patient stays if the falls were preventable; other third-party payers are following the Medicare program's initiative to no longer pay for certain hospital-acquired, preventable injuries such as some falls.

Health System RIsk Management recommends that facilities implement comprehensive falls prevention programs and conduct periodic reviews of their program's efficacy. Indeed, these periodic reviews are necessary to maintain Joint Commission accreditation. The accrediting agency requires accredited hospitals to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their falls prevention...