APR DRG weights and the relationship to patient falls

Patient falls risk assessment and nursing intervention have traditionally been a focus for acute care hospitals. Acute care hospitals that treat patients with a complex case mix or high APR DRG relative weight indexes have increased diligence in risk assessment because the compromised or complex patient has a greater risk for falling. According to new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidelines, hospitals can no long bill for services stemming from inpatient falls. The purpose of this study is to analyze the APR DRG weights in relationship to patient falls. If the hypothesis is true, then tertiary care hospitals may have a basis in which to "defend" their inpatient fall rates and request additional CMS reimbursement where applicable. In this study, patients with APR DRG weights greater than 2.5795 had 2.5 times the incidence of falls.