The Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) presented its prestigious Quality and Patient Safety Award to The Medical Center, Navicent Health (MCNH) for its project to reduce fall risk and injuries related to falling. MCNH’s project, titled, “Preventing Falls with Injury,” won first place in the “Hospitals with Over 300 Beds” category.
 
For the project, MCNH enhanced its fall injury prevention program using the Hester Davis Falls Program, a scientific approach to predicting and preventing falls and injuries. The program is a total falls management solution comprised of three evidence-based components – including a fall risk assessment, falls care plan and falls toolkit – proven to predict and prevent falls while sustaining patient safety.
 
Under the program, patients receive an individualized care plan mapping specific interventions based on identified risk factors, and the care plan is adjusted based on the patient’s real-time condition. Through the implementation of the program, education, new technologies and supplies, and monitoring, MCNH successfully reduced falls with injury by nearly 50 percent.
 
“Hospitals are diligently working each day to ensure the safety of their patients,” said Georgia Hospital Association President and CEO Earl Rogers. “We applaud The Medical Center, Navicent Health for its successes and for making critical progress in patient safety while ensuring the best and safest care possible for patients.”
 
MCNH also won a Circle of Excellence Award, an honor given to hospitals and health systems that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to quality and patient safety as evidenced by earning three or more PHA Patient Safety Awards within the previous five years. GHA’s annual PHA awards  recognize Georgia healthcare organizations for achievement in reducing the risk of medical errors and improving patient safety and medical outcomes.
 
"Navicent Health is committed to quality excellence and patient safety, particularly in the areas of reducing falls. We not only seek to minimize falls within our hospitals, but also provide community programs like A Matter of Balance courses and free fall risk screenings to help individuals in our community combat falls at home," said Tom Oliver, MD, Chief Medical Officer for MCNH.