Hospitalist Perceptions of Fall Prevention: A Comparison of Two Health Care Systems

Inpatient falls are common, but little is known about hospitalist perceptions regarding their exact role in fall prevention. The authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis of hospitalists' attitudes and perceived barriers to fall prevention practices in 2 different hospital systems in Portland, Oregon. A total of 42 responses were collected. Although hospitalists in both groups agreed that all patients admitted should undergo fall risk assessments (FRAs), both groups disagreed that hospitalists should be responsible for performing them. Neither group felt that they had the time to complete FRAs and were either neutral or felt the lack of expertise to conduct them. These findings suggest that the hospitalist role in inpatient fall prevention multidisciplinary teams may be unclear to physician providers and that health care systems may benefit from examining this further.