New AHRQ Resource Can Help Prevent Patient Falls in Hospitals

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a new online toolkit, “Preventing Falls in Hospitals: A Toolkit for Improving Quality of Care,” that focuses on reducing falls that occur during a patient’s hospital stay. Nearly one million patients fall in U.S. hospitals each year. The Toolkit is organized under six major areas that address hospital readiness, program management, choosing fall prevention practices, implementation, measurement, and sustainability. Fall prevention programs require an interdisciplinary approach to care in order to manage a patient’s underlying fall risk factors, such as problems with walking and transfers, medication side effects, confusion, and frequent toileting needs. To find out more, visit www.ahrq.gov/research/ltc/fallpxtoolkit/index.html.