Injuries from patient falls in hospitals are a leading cause of death among people 65 and older. Of those patients who fall, up to half may suffer moderate to severe injuries that increase the risk of premature death. The potential for falls increases with hospital stays of 19 days or longer, dependency for ambulation and lack of regular exercise. Hip fractures are the most feared complication from falls with up to 20% of people sustaining hip fracture becoming nonambulatory and many are unable to recover their ability to carry out activities of daily living.

Participating hospitals will reduce their 2007 falls with injury rate per 1,000 patient days by more than 50%, with an ultimate goal of zero falls with injury. Individual improvement goals will be determined by each facility and may vary.

Data will be obtained from Cal NOC for all facilities that have executed their CalNOC addendum.

Baseline: 

2007 — 0.10 falls with injury per 1,000 patient days for BEACON hospitals that participated in CalNOC.