Using a Co-Designed Implementation Enhancement Plan to Increase the Adoption of a Digital Fall Prevention Platform: A...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare innovation
• Patient safety research
• Digital health implementation

Background:

• Hospital-acquired complications and inpatient harm are frequently caused by falls.
• Existing fall prevention interventions lack clear evidence on effectiveness and optimal implementation strategies.
• This study evaluated a co-designed implementation plan for a digital fall prevention platform in a new hospital setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a co-designed implementation enhancement plan on the adoption of a digital fall prevention platform.
• To determine the effect of the platform and enhancement plan on patient fall rates.
• To evaluate improvements in staff perceptions and response times related to fall prevention.

Main Methods:

• A non-randomized, pre-post interventional study design was employed.
• Multi-methods included a bespoke survey and statistical analysis of hospital administrative data.
• Key metrics were system adoption rates and patient fall rates per 1000 bed days.

Main Results:

• The co-designed plan significantly increased the identification of high-risk falls on the staff station console by 39% (p=0.04).
• Improvements were noted in staff response times, satisfaction, and perceptions of the fall prevention platform.
• A non-significant reduction in falls per 1000 bed days was observed for cognitively intact patients post-intervention (OR=0.97).

Conclusions:

• The co-designed implementation plan effectively enhanced the uptake and utilization of the digital fall prevention platform.
• The platform demonstrates potential for reducing falls in cognitively intact patients, warranting further investigation with larger sample sizes and longer observation periods.
• Observed reductions in nurse response times suggest broader benefits for patient care and experience.