Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit organization that supports efforts to improve healthcare.  The NQF publishes a list of harmful clinical events that are largely preventable.  They refer to these as Serious Reportable Events.  NQF designed this list to help healthcare facilities assess, measure and report performance in providing safe care.  St. Elizabeth Hospital has a goal of eliminating preventable events.  One of our areas of focus has been reduction in patient serious injuries associated with a fall while being cared for in a healthcare setting. 

To prevent these events, we use the John Hopkins Fall Assessment Tool to identify a patient’s Risk Score.  The patient's risk level will provide suggested individualized interventions.

In 2021, our percentage of falls resulting in moderate or greater injury severity was 2.19%, lower to that of the national average of 3.2%.  In 2022, we were able to lower this number to 1.8%, while the national average rose to 3.4%.  In 2023, we had zero falls that resulted in moderate or greater injury severity, while the national average remained at 3.4%.

We continue to actively work to reduce our rate of falls by reviewing all cases to learn trends to help identify possible patterns.  Other actions have included: educating staff, placing windows on all isolation rooms, utilizing bed/chair alarms, and using a family member, sitter or virtual companion as indicated.

By the end of 2023, our goal is to have zero serious injuries as a result of a fall.  Goal was achieved and we work to continue to have zero serious injuries as a result of a fall in 2024.