The Use of a Single Risk Assessment Tool for Mortality and Numerous Hospital-Acquired Conditions

Quality assessment organizations leverage numerous patient safety measures to evaluate hospital performance, resulting in significant financial, administrative, and operational burdens on health systems. Low-intensity approaches that allow for reliable risk stratification of patients can reduce the required investment. The Braden score is a routinely performed bedside nursing evaluation validated to assess risk for hospital-acquired pressure injury. We hypothesized that the tool can be used to evaluate risk for other hospital-related adverse outcomes, including mortality, catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), and central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). We found that abnormal Braden scores have significant association with numerous adverse outcome measures, including mortality, CLABSI, CAUTI, and iatrogenic hypoglycemia. Because of its frequency of reevaluation, we have found preliminary evidence that leveraging this tool can reduce harm by quickly identifying the most at-risk patients for various types of iatrogenic harm. We conclude that in the face of increasing automation and technical applications, for example, artificial intelligence-driven tools, highly reliable clinician bedside physical examination and evaluation can still have significant, low-cost, and high-value impact in improving patient safety.