Standardizing Falls Reporting: Using Data From Adverse Event Reporting to Drive Quality Improvement.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Patient Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) previously lacked standardized falls reporting, hindering effective analysis and improvement.
• Hospitals needed a tool to benchmark falls rates and identify specific areas for improvement in their patient falls programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the PA-PSRS by developing a standardized falls reporting program.
• To provide hospitals with timely, benchmarked falls rates and process measurement reports for quality improvement.

Main Methods:

• Developed a falls reporting program with standardized definitions for falls.
• Utilized an advisory committee and statewide survey to guide program development, data definitions, and reporting criteria.
• Created real-time falls outcomes and process reports, including a falls dashboard.

Main Results:

• 41.3% of Pennsylvania hospitals enrolled within six months of launch.
• 82.9% of participating hospitals found the new analytic reports useful.
• A less than 1% reduction in the falls with harm rate was observed, but improved identification of risk factors was noted.

Conclusions:

• The PA-PSRS falls reporting program offers standardized definitions, analytic reports, and benchmarking data.
• The program transforms adverse event reporting into a valuable quality improvement tool for hospitals.
• Benchmarking allows hospitals to compare falls performance with peer institutions statewide.