By Healthcare Facilities Today

A combination of technology and personal attention is helping prevent patient falls at Greenwich Hospital, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.

The program includes 24-hour video surveillance of up to 14 patients who are identified at admission as being at risk for falling.

Two certified nurse assistants take turns about every two hours so that one is always watching the at-risk patients on video monitors and the second nurse assistant is making rounds to visit the patients in their rooms, the article said.

After the first year of the program, during which 1,600 were admitted to the Connecticut hospital's monitored rooms, there has been only one patient fall, a 20 percent reduction compared with that of prior years, the article said.

In addition, the hospital will save $250,000 annually by eliminating the use of patient sitters who watched patients at risk for falls on a one-to-one basis 24 hours a day in their rooms.

Greenwich's program is generating interest at other hospitals, according to the article. The hospital held a recent webinar on this program.

Between 700,000 and 1 million patients fall in U.S. hospitals each year, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Joint Commission reports that the average increase in a hospital's operational costs for a serious fall-related injury is more than $13,000.

Read the article.