April 23, 2024
We’re rising up to help prevent falls
Kaiser Permanente is committed to finding ways to help reduce falls in hospitals.
Keeping patients safe is a top priority for Kaiser Permanente.
Being hospitalized can be a frightening experience — you’re in an unfamiliar place, managing sickness or an injury. The last thing you want to worry about is getting hurt.
Unfortunately, research shows that every year, about 700,000 to 1 million patients fall in hospitals throughout the United States. Falls can have devastating consequences — about 25% of falls cause an injury, and 10% cause serious damage. It’s estimated that hospital falls lead to up to 11,000 deaths each year.
Our commitment to you
At Kaiser Permanente, we’re dedicated to delivering high-quality care that is effective and safe for our members and the communities we serve. When our data indicates an opportunity to improve care, we work on ways to address it efficiently.
As part of our commitment to the health of our communities, we also share our learnings with others to promote best practices in health care that benefit everyone.
Putting up numbers
We’re proud of the results we’re seeing. According to Marianna Volodarskiy, executive director of Patient Care Services and co-chair of the Regional Falls Prevention Program for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California and Hawaii, “Kaiser Permanente, as an organization, falls into the top 25th percentile when compared to other participants in Press Ganey’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators. We’re happy to see how far we’ve come, and we’re looking forward to what we can achieve in the near future.”
Milena Garabedian, regional administrative leader for hospital-based, continuing care, and support services, and co-chair of the Regional Falls Prevention Program for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California and Hawaii, said that making more progress is achievable with dedication, coordination, and cooperation.
“Kaiser Permanente believes that standardized practices of care create consistent, high-quality, and safe care. We are committed to continue working with our health care and community partners to establish best practices that help reduce falls in hospitals,” said Garabedian.
Learn more about patient safety at Kaiser Permanente.
