Patient falls in Minnesota hospitals are the lowest since state officials began collecting data twelve years ago — and over the last year the number of times foreign objects were mistakenly left in patients during surgery also dropped. Rachel Jokela with the state Health Department says problems in both areas have been “very stubborn… and seeing that progress is very exciting.” On the negative side, the past year saw an increase in back surgeries performed at the wrong spine level. Jokela says spine surgery has become less invasive and sometimes it’s very difficult for the surgeon to visualize what vertebra they’re actually at, because the incision is so small. She says they’re working with hospitals to reduce those errors.