With healthcare facilities prepare for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), falls as a preventable occurrence are getting new attention, according to an article on the Healthcare Design website.
Hospital-associated injuries from falls are considered a "never event" by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and health care facilities are no longer reimbursed by Medicaid for these accidents.
According to the article, falls most often occur in transfers from the bed to bath area. However, falls are also reported in diagnostic, treatment and other locations.
While recent studies look at both the patient and the environment associated with falls, there’s little detail to describe the effect of specific conditions, like lighting, distance, and visibility.
The article points out the difficulty of studying the problem in a "live" setting where many factors can be viewed in concert. By examining the underlying conditions associated with a fall (for example, visibility), types of solutions can be identified based on project scope.
Read the article.
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