Setting realistic goals for quality assurance monitoring: patient falls versus patient days.
In order to set criteria for determining an acceptable level of patient falls, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, New Jersey created a regression line predicting the expected frequency of patient falls by patient days. The regression line was derived from data reflecting the hospital's own experience with patient falls during a two-year period. The medical center now compares predicted and actual fall rates on a monthly basis. Corrective actions are implemented when the number of falls rises above the regression line during two consecutive months. The regression line thus serves as a useful method of determining the need for enhanced QA activities.
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000059:Accidents; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009515:New Jersey; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012308:Risk Management