Data Snapshot: Faces of Falls

Authors

  • Susan C. Wallace Patient Safety Authority
  • Caitlyn Allen Patient Safety Authority

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33940/falls/2019.12.6

Abstract

Falls are a common and often devastating health threat for hospitalized patients, as they can cause serious injuries such as a hip fracture, and even lead to death.1 Falls in Pennsylvania continue to be one of the biggest contributors to patient harm and the fourth-most frequently reported event.2 An estimated 1 out of every 56 inpatients will fall in a Pennsylvania hospital.

Author Biographies

Susan C. Wallace, Patient Safety Authority

Susan C. Wallace (suwallace@ pa.gov) is a senior patient safety liai-son with the Patient Safety Authority for the South Central region of Penn-sylvania, as well as a Core Team Lead for the PSA’s Center of Excellence for Improving Diagnosis. Prior to her current role, Wallace worked as a di-rector of risk management, patient safety officer, and safety analyst.

Caitlyn Allen , Patient Safety Authority

Caitlyn Allen is director of Engage-ment for the Patient Safety Author-ity and managing editor for Patient Safety, the PSA’s peer-reviewed journal. Before joining the PSA, she was the project manager for Patient Safety at Jefferson Health, where she also was the only non-physician elected to serve on the House Staff Quality and Safety Leadership Council. Previously, Al-len also was a project manager and patient safety officer for Wills Eye Hospital.

References

Moyer VA U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults; U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157:197-204.

Patient Safety Authority. Annual Report 2018 [online]. 2019 May 22 [cited 2019 Jun 6]. Available from internet: http://patientsafety.pa.gov/PatientSafetyAuthority/Documents/2018%20PSA%20 Annual%20Report.pdf.

Doering, M., & Wolf, M. Final Guidance for Acute Healthcare Facility Determinations of Report-ing Requirements Under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act (n.d.). Harrisburg, PA.

Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act, Pub. L. No. 154 Stat. 13 (2002).

Patient Safety Authority harm score taxonomy. Harrisburg (PA): Patient Safety Authority; 2015. 1p. Also available: http://patientsafety.pa.gov/ADVISORIES/Documents/Tool%20PDFs/201503_tax-onomy.pdf.

Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) [website]. [cited 2019 Dec 19]. Har-risburg (PA): PHC4. http://www.phc4.org

Wall of many head-shots of people, with some being orange to signify those who have fallen.

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Published

2019-12-17

How to Cite

Wallace, S. C., & Allen , C. . (2019). Data Snapshot: Faces of Falls. Patient Safety, 1(2), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.33940/falls/2019.12.6

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2019): Patient Safety — December 2019

Section

Original Research and Articles
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