title: The economics of preventing hospital falls: demonstrating ROI through a simple model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to assess the cost savings associated with implementing nursing approaches to prevent in-hospital falls.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Hospital rating programs often report fall rates, and performance-based payment systems force hospitals to bear the costs of treating patients after falls. Some interventions have been demonstrated as effective for falls prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Costs of falls-prevention programs, financial savings associated with in-hospital falls reduction, and achievable fall rate improvement are measured using published literature. Net costs are calculated for implementing a falls-prevention program as compared with not making improvements in patient fall rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Falls-prevention programs can reduce the cost of treatment, but in many scenarios, the costs of falls-prevention programs were greater than potential cost savings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Falls-prevention programs need to be carefully targeted to patients at greatest risk in order to achieve cost savings.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Professor (Dr Spetz), Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies & Center for the Health Professions, University of California, San Francisco; Executive Director for Cost Improvement Strategy (Dr Brown), Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and Senior Scientist (Dr Brown), Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC), San Ramon, California; and Research Scientist, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Burns & Allen Research Institute, Los Angeles; and DataManagement Services Director (Dr Aydin), CALNOC, San Ramon, California.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spetz
authors.forename: Diane S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aydin
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D018803:Models, Economic; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000191:economics; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017751:Safety Management / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States