6 Reasons Why Hospital Fall Prevention Programs Fail
Did you know that 700,000 — 1,000,000 patients fall while hospitalized each year? Of those patients who fall, 30 — 35% sustain a serious injury that extends their hospital stay an average of six days. Moreover, patient falls may require rehabilitation and cause decline in the patient’s overall health and wellbeing.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), patient falls in hospitals are one of the most frequently reported adverse events. The issue is so pervasive that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality published an extensive Preventing Patient Falls in Hospitals Toolkit.
Between 2018-2020, VirtuAlly monitored patient falls and associated costs before and after implementing our virtual monitoring system (VMS) in four units of a major hospital. The post-implementation results show a direct correlation between our VM implementation, patient harm reduction, and hospital cost reduction.
We’re proud of our partnerships. Which is why we must acknowledge our gratitude to the hospitals, long-term and post-acute care facilities who use our virtual patient monitoring system to identify and prevent safety risks.
Address the Root Causes of Hospital Patient Falls
It is with the best of intentions that hospitals implement a fall prevention program. There are medication reviews, environmental modifications, clinician education, etc. Sadly, though, many hospitals still struggle to sustain their fall prevention program’s effectiveness long term. Why? We’ve called out the top six reasons.
Inadequate Risk Assessments: Identify hospital patients fall risk factors by conducting an accurate and comprehensive risk assessment of each patient and update it regularly. Otherwise, patients may be incorrectly identified as low risk, and create preventable, but harmful consequences.
Poor Communication and Teamwork: If there is a lack of communication or culture of teamwork, preventive measures may not be implemented in a timely, consistent, and appropriate manner. Checklists help standardize workflows. Regular team meetings and communication tools (i.e. Slack and TigerConnect) improve collaboration and trust. Even a refresher course in conflict resolution can offer options that promote productive, favorable outcomes.
Insufficient Staff Training: Staff should have working-knowledge on the assistive devices and technology their patients use, and a firm know how when it comes to positioning patients safely in beds, chairs, and other surfaces based on their individual needs and risk factors. If this is a vulnerability within your team, check out training in assistive products by the WHO.
Lack of Patient / Family Engagement: Encourage questions. Encourage patients to participate in exercises that improve strength, balance, and mobility. Additionally, provide family members with instructions on how to assist patients safely. The after-effect is motivated, proactive patients who ask for help, state their concerns upfront, use assistive devices and follow safety recommendations consistently.
Scarce Hospital Resources: You need technology, you need staff, and you need equipment. Together these resources form a cohesive, continuous fall prevention eco-system. VirtuAlly is the only telehealth company in the market that provides a full turnkey service for tele-sitting and virtual nursing by offering both technology and the staffing component. See for yourself why our virtual patient monitoring is an effective choice.
Failure to Collect and Analyze Patient Fall Data: With data, hospitals can identify trends, measure the impact of their interventions, and make well-informed decisions on how to adjust current strategies or future patient safety initiatives. For instance, data such as patient age, gender, medical history, circumstances surrounding a fall, and any resulting fall injuries should be recorded—and this is just the basics.
Aside from electronic health records (EHRs), there are fall prevention assessment tools and data analytics software. Thank you, Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority for your deep data dive in assessing patient safety and driving improvement.
Implementing Effective Patient Fall Prevention Programs in Your Hospital
Where can your hospital make improvements? Make a plan. And take action.
By implementing targeted interventions, monitoring progress, and sharing findings, your hospital can reduce the incidence of patient falls and improve patient safety overall.
Patient safety is the core of what we do. We say this often. That’s because we’ve witnessed the frustration from medical facilities trying to reduce patient falls. We’ve seen reduction at 25%. Yet one of our clients reported that 100% of their units with the VirtuAlly system installed saw decreases in patient falls post-installation, creating safer, happier environments for both patients and staff. A win, win. Win!
Patient safety in hospitals is everyone’s responsibility. So, if there’s an opportunity where you can reduce patient falls, we hope you act quickly. We also hope that you share this information with your staff and care teams.
As a reminder, our virtual patient monitoring solution is not just for hospitals. You can also find us in assisted living facilities where we support family members and care teams who are stretched thin when it comes to staffing.
Finally, we’re easy to reach. We’re likable and caring. We’d be delighted to demo how VirtuAlly.io elevates fall prevention programs to higher levels of effectiveness. We say this with confidence and gratitude.