Current health predicts how well elderly bounce back from falls

You don’t have to be a psychic to know how a patient will recover from a serious fall related injury.

 

Simply look at the patient’s current condition. According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the patient’s level of disability before a hip fracture or other injury correlates to how well and how quickly the patient will recover.

 

How can providers use this study? Better counseling of patients and caregivers as well as appropriate selection of follow up care are two areas the authors identified, according to Medpage Today.

 

Need to get a handle on patient falls? Turn to the Orthopedic Coder’s Pink Sheet and Home Health Line. Facilities that want to prevent patient falls rely on Inside the Joint Commission and Environment of Care Leader. “ECL covers such topics as what kind of floors to install and not leaving obstacles on the floor,” notes editor A.J. Plunkett. “While IJC does some of that and also covers risk evaluation and more of the hands-on nursing care kinds of guidance.”