Dive Brief:
- Some Connecticut hospitals have mounted video cameras in hospital rooms in an effort to prevent sometimes deadly patient falls.
- Hospitals involved include Stamford and Greenwich Hospital; Bridgeport Hospital is planning to install cameras in rooms in the near future.
- At Greenwich, there was only one fall in the monitored rooms during the past year, a result execs see as a big success.
Dive Insight:
Video surveillance to prevent falls seems like an excellent idea. While cameras aren't free, they're not ultra-pricey IT gear, and it takes no training to monitor their output. Used in combination with fall prevention programs, it seems that the cameras can improve safety meaningfully for frail, unsteady patients.Let's see if other hospitals give this a try—and hopefully, achieve the same positive results.