eCQM Title

Falls: Screening for Future Fall Risk

eCQM Identifier (Measure Authoring Tool) 139 eCQM Version number 8.1.000
NQF Number Not Applicable GUID bc5b4a57-b964-4399-9d40-667c896f31ea
Measurement Period January 1, 20XX through December 31, 20XX
Measure Steward National Committee for Quality Assurance
Measure Developer American Medical Association (AMA)
Measure Developer National Committee for Quality Assurance
Measure Developer PCPI(R) Foundation (PCPI[R])
Endorsed By None
Description
Percentage of patients 65 years of age and older who were screened for future fall risk during the measurement period
Copyright
This Physician Performance Measure (Measure) and related data specifications is owned and copyrighted by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA makes no representations, warranties, or endorsement about the quality of any organization or physician that uses or reports performance measures and NCQA has no liability to anyone who relies on or uses such measures or specifications. This Measure is not a clinical guideline and does not establish a standard of medical care, and has not been tested for all potential applications. The Measure, while copyrighted, can be reproduced and distributed, without modification, for noncommercial purposes, eg, use by health care providers in connection with their practices. Commercial use is defined as the sale, license, or distribution of the Measure for commercial gain, or incorporation of the Measure into a product or service that is sold, licensed or distributed for commercial gain. All commercial uses or requests for modification must be approved by NCQA and are subject to a license at the discretion of NCQA.  (C) 2019 National Committee for Quality Assurance and PCPI(R) Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Limited proprietary coding is contained in the Measure specifications for user convenience. Users of proprietary code sets should obtain all necessary licenses from the owners of the code sets. NCQA disclaims all liability for use or accuracy of any third party codes contained in the specifications.

CPT(R) contained in the Measure specifications is copyright 2004-2018 American Medical Association. LOINC(R) copyright 2004-2018 Regenstrief Institute, Inc. This material contains SNOMED Clinical Terms(R) (SNOMED CT[R]) copyright 2004-2018 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation. ICD-10 copyright 2018 World Health Organization. All Rights Reserved.

The American Hospital Association holds a copyright to the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) codes contained in the measure specifications. The NUBC codes in the specifications are included with the permission of the AHA. The NUBC codes contained in the specifications may be used by health plans and other health care delivery organizations for the purpose of calculating and reporting Measure results or using Measure results for their internal quality improvement purposes. All other uses of the NUBC codes require a license from the AHA. Anyone desiring to use the NUBC codes in a commercial product to generate Measure results, or for any other commercial use, must obtain a commercial use license directly from the AHA. To inquire about licensing, contact ub04@healthforum.com.
Disclaimer
The performance Measure is not a clinical guideline and does not establish a standard of medical care, and has not been tested for all potential applications. THE MEASURE AND SPECIFICATIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
 
Due to technical limitations, registered trademarks are indicated by (R) or [R] and unregistered trademarks are indicated by (TM) or [TM].
Measure Scoring Proportion
Measure Type Process
Stratification
None
Risk Adjustment
None
Rate Aggregation
None
Rationale
As the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for older adults, falls are one of the most common and significant health issues facing people aged 65 years or older (Schneider, Shubert and Harmon 2010). Moreover, the rate of falls increases with age (Dykes et al. 2010). Older adults are five times more likely to be hospitalized for fall-related injuries than any other cause-related injury. It is estimated that one in every three adults over 65 will fall each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2015). In those over age 80, the rate of falls increases to fifty percent (Doherty et al. 2009). Falls are also associated with substantial cost and resource use, approaching $30,000 per fall hospitalization Woolcott et al. 2011). Identifying at-risk patients is the most important part of management, as applying preventive measures in this vulnerable population can have a profound effect on public health (al-Aama 2011). Family physicians have a pivotal role in screening older patients for risk of falls, and applying preventive strategies for patients at risk (al-Aama 2011).
Clinical Recommendation Statement
All older persons who are under the care of a heath professional (or their caregivers) should be asked at least once a year about falls.  (AGS/BGS/AAOS 2010)

Older persons who present for medical attention because of a fall, report recurrent falls in the past year, or demonstrate abnormalities of gait and/or balance should have a fall evaluation performed.  This evaluation should be performed by a clinician with appropriate skills and experience, which may necessitate referral to a specialist (eg, geriatrician).  (AGS/BGS/AAOS 2010)
Improvement Notation
A higher score indicates better quality
Reference
al-Aama, T. 2011. "Falls in the Elderly: Spectrum and Prevention." Can Fam Physician 57(7):771-6.
Reference
American Geriatrics Society and British Geriatric Society. (2010) Prevention of Falls in Older Persons Clinical Practice Guidelines. Accessed June 14, 2018. Available at http://www.medcats.com/FALLS/frameset.htm
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2015. "Important Facts about Falls" (December 14, 2015) http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/adultfalls.html
Reference
Doherty, M., and J. Crossen-Sills. 2009. "Fall Risk: Keep your patients in balance." The Nurse Practitioner: The American Journal of Primary Health Care 34(12):46-51.
Reference
Dykes, P.C., D.L. Carroll DL, A. Hurley A, S. Lipsitz S, A. Benoit A, F. Chang F, S. Meltzer S, R. Tsurikova R, L. Zuyov L, B. Middleton B. 2010. "Fall Prevention in Acute Care Hospitals: A Randomized Trial." JAMA . 2010;304(17):1912-1918.
Reference
Schneider, E.C., T.E. Shubert, and K.J. Harmon. 2010. "Addressing the Escalating Public Health Issue of Falls Among Older Adults." NC  Med J 71(6):547-52.
Reference
Woolcott, J.C., K.M. Khan, S. Mitrovic, A.H. Anis, C.A. Marra. 2011. "The Cost of Fall Related Presentations to the ED: A Prospective, In-Person, Patient-Tracking Analysis of Health Resource Utilization." Osteporos Int [Epub ahead of print].
Definition
Screening for Future Fall Risk: Assessment of whether an individual has experienced a fall or problems with gait or balance.  A specific screening tool is not required for this measure, however potential screening tools include the Morse Fall Scale and the timed Get-Up-And-Go test.

Fall: A sudden, unintentional change in position causing an individual to land at a lower level, on an object, the floor, or the ground, other than as a consequence of sudden onset of paralysis, epileptic seizure, or overwhelming external force.
Guidance
None
Transmission Format
TBD
Initial Population
Patients aged 65 years and older with a visit during the measurement period
Denominator
Equals Initial Population
Denominator Exclusions
Exclude patients whose hospice care overlaps the measurement period.

Exclude patients who were non-ambulatory at some point in the measurement period.
Numerator
Patients who were screened for future fall risk at least once within the measurement period
Numerator Exclusions
Not Applicable
Denominator Exceptions
None
Supplemental Data Elements
For every patient evaluated by this measure also identify payer, race, ethnicity and sex

Table of Contents


Population Criteria

Definitions

Functions

Terminology

Data Criteria (QDM Data Elements)

Supplemental Data Elements

Risk Adjustment Variables


Measure Set
None