Relation to Patient Safety, Healthcare Cost, and Quality of Care

 

Hospital-related falls, standardized risk assessment rates, and morbidity and mortality rates impact patient safety, healthcare costs, and the quality of care. Firstly, hospital-related falls indicate that the hospital delivers poor-quality healthcare services. Also, it indicates that the hospital lacks elaborate strategies for mitigating falls. Hospital-related falls lower patient safety by predisposing them to injuries, fractures, and deaths. It is also likely to prolong hospitalization and increase treatment costs. Secondly, low standardized risk assessment rates will likely lower the quality of healthcare services and patient safety. SRA enables healthcare providers to make informed decisions and develop individualized care plans. A low rate of SRA is likely to increase the incidence of falls and prolong hospitalization; hence, patients incur extra healthcare costs. Thirdly, high morbidity and mortality rates indicate poor quality of healthcare services and low patient safety. Conversely, high morbidity rates are associated with prolonged hospitalizations, hence high healthcare costs.
References
AHRQ.gov. (2019). Falls. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/falls

AHRQ.gov. (2022). Preventing Falls in Hospitals. https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/fall-prevention/toolkit/practices.html#3-4