PhD Defence Niklaus Stefan Bernet

Keywords: Accidental falls, Hospitals, Risk Adjustment, Quality of Healthcare 
 

"Fair and meaningful comparison of inpatient fall rates in acute care hospitals"

Falls in acute care hospitals are a recognised patient safety concern. Fair and meaningful comparisons of inpatient fall rates are essential to ensure that data can be effectively used by stakeholders for decision-making and, ultimately, to improve hospital care quality. 

This thesis lays the foundation for fair comparisons by examining how to best collect, compare, and present inpatient fall data. It focuses on developing and validating a risk adjustment model that accounts for patient-related risk factors, enabling more accurate comparisons at hospital, national, and international levels. The impact of risk adjustment on the fairness of comparisons is also analysed. Additionally, the thesis explores whether electronic medical records can serve as a reliable alternative data source for risk-adjusted comparisons. Finally, it investigates how risk-adjusted fall rate data can be presented in a way that improves usability and understanding for end users. 

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