Joint Commission launches falls prevention analytics tool

The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare has released a data analytics tool that can help care organizations reduce falls by identifying causes and risk rates.

The commission worked with seven healthcare organizations to develop the tool. Using the DMAIC approach (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), the project identified dozens of contributing factors that resulted in falls, which varied by site. Hospitals that used the tool were able to reduce the rate of patient falls by 35 percent and the rate of fall-related injuries by 62 percent.

Although the tool was designed by acute care providers, long-term care organizations can use the tool to gather their own data, perform root cause analysis to determine onsite risks, select solution approaches and maintain the process in the future. Access to the tool is free for Joint Commission-accredited providers.

The offering is the latest in the Joint Commission’s series of Targeted Solutions Tools, which also include hand hygiene, transfers of care/handoffs and surgical procedures.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.