Clinical labor cost metrics
Immediate nursing labor: Concentrated staff time in the first 60 minutes after a fall — assessment, stabilization, and initial neurological checks.
Post-fall clinical monitoring: Cumulative nursing hours for ongoing observation (hourly neuro-checks) and physical therapy clearances during extended stay days.
Administrative & compliance labor: Non-bedside time for incident reporting, root cause analysis, and regulatory documentation — required for all falls.
Capacity & utilization metrics
LOS extension: Average extra days a patient remains hospitalized due to a fall (8.1 days, Dykes et al., 2023). Primary driver of non-reimbursable costs.
Room and board (daily): Fixed daily rate for bed, nursing, and meals. CMS "Never Event" classification means extra fall-related days are typically non-reimbursed.
Bed capacity opportunity gain: Revenue recovered when a prevented fall frees a bed for a new billable admission.
Operational performance
Injurious fall: A fall resulting in physical harm (fractures, bleeds). Reported per 1,000 discharges via Leapfrog.
Non-injurious fall: Falls where without physical injury, still costly due to mandatory protocols andand LOS Extensions. Enter 3X your injurious fall rate.
Clinical FTE recovered: Staff capacity redirected from reactive post-fall care to proactive patient care. Calculated as total FTE burden × fall reduction rate.
