Decision tree helps standardize reporting of falls event types Pennsylvania patient safety advisory Gardner, Lea Anne, author. Burns, Laurie M., author. Accidental Falls -- statistics & numerical data Data Collection -- standards Decision Support Techniques Toileting-related falls are estimated to account for approximately 50% of inpatient falls; however, in Pennsylvania, in 2012, only 12.8% of reported falls were toileting-related. Falls event reporting through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) requires entry of a single falls event category selected from a list of 13 choices. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority analysts noted variations in event type reporting: 22.8% of found-on-floor falls event reports and 11.3% of other/unknown (i.e., unspecified) category event reports were determined to be toileting-related falls. To standardize and improve the reliability and validity of reporting the type of patient fall, a PA-PSRS falls event type decision tree was developed and released in 2012 in collaboration with the PA-PSRS falls reporting program. A two-year analysis of hospital Serious Event falls reports submitted by hospitals enrolled in the PA-PSRS falls reporting program before and after release of the decision tree revealed a 5.7% increase in reports of toileting-related falls. This increase may signal that the specificity of falls event reporting can be improved through the use of the decision tree. [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, December 2014 Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority, issuing body. ECRI (Organization), issuing body. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, issuing body. Technical Report Text Illustrations 1 online resource (1 PDF file (pages 156-162)) nlm:nlmuid-101648355-pdf 101648355 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101648355 English Pennsylvania United States Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0