How It Works Healthcare personnel function in an environ-ment of heavy workloads, enormous respon-sibilities, multitasking and being constantly pressed to do more things in less time, ac-cording to Hall. This challenges their time management, priority setting and efficiency of practice. That is why Hall’s company was commit-ted to providing hand hygiene solutions that make compliance easier. Hand hygiene technology systems that be-came available earlier this year measure and improve hand hygiene compliance. Hall states his type of technology can in-clude: ■ An activity monitoring system that mea-sures compliance on a community level providing real-time actionable data by floor, unit or room. ■ Technology that monitors and measures hand hygiene compliance at an indi-vidual level through Real-Time Locating System (RTLS)-enabled employee badges. (A system can integrate with existing third-party RTLS systems.) ■ In addition, some companies provide a representative or employee who becomes part of the hospital’s infec-tion prevention team and provides cus-tomized implementation, on-site audits, setup, baseline measurements and detailed improvement plans ■ Finally, software can allow users to auto-matically upload, visualize and analyze data from a free application for portable devices used to electronically collect hand hygiene events. healthcare workers. The study duration was three months dur-ing which a comprehensive hand hygiene program for healthcare workers, patient and visitors was implemented. Additional education was established in-cluding the development of a hand hygiene improvement goal, leadership support and feedback opportunities for the staff. Results of the study were presented at the APIC 2013 Conference. The authors concluded that during the study period of June to September 2012, there was a 92 percent increase in hand hy-giene compliance rates — from 16.5 percent at baseline to 31.7 percent — when an elec-tronic monitoring system was included in a hand hygiene program. During the post-study period the rate de-creased to 25.8 percent, still significantly above baseline. Through the study, it was found that the implementation of an electronic hand hy-giene compliance monitoring system as part of a clinical hand hygiene program can sig-nificantly increase hand hygiene compliance. “We also are aware that additional data is needed to better understand the impact of electronic compliance monitoring programs on clinical outcomes, such as infection rates,” Hall says. Today, it is clear that safer facilities equal improved employee production, increased profitability and healthier communities. Thankfully facility managers, service con-tractors and workers are not fighting this im-portant battle alone. New technologies, scientific studies and updated approaches offer the promise of saf-er, cleaner and healthier facilities in the future. 1 According to the CDC, “Hand Hygiene Project: Best Practices for Hospitals …” Joint Com-mission, Nov. 2010. 2 Herbert C. Weber SG. Common approaches to the control of multidrug-resistant organ-isms other than methicillin-resistant Staphylo-coccus aureus Mar:25(1): 181-200. Epub 2010 Dec. 17. CM ™ A PROVEN PERFORMANCE FORMULATOR & MANUFACTURER In 2013, we combined the resources of Charlotte Products and Enviro-Solutions to further support and develop the cleaning chemical business of our current and future customers. This will position our company for greater future FQNVSG@MCRSQDMFSGDMNTQO@QSMDQRGHO@MCOQNCTBSNƤDQHMF with our customers. Charlotte Products was founded in 1986 and is the Performance Formulator and Manufacturer of a broad range of cleaning chemical products including brands such as Enviro-Solutions®, Swish™, ECOgent™, private label and custom pack for multinational companies. Compliance Study Hall’s company conducted an independent research study at the John Peter Smith Hos-pital in Fort Worth, Texas, to determine the impact on hand hygiene compliance rates when the hospital hand hygiene program included an electronic compliance activity monitoring system. During the study, the system was installed to monitor all patient room entries and exits and all hand hygiene events from touch-free soap or hand sanitizer dispensers. Compliance was measured as number of events in contrast to number of opportunities, and included the entire community, not only We lead the industry by providing innovative technology, quality products and service excellence. ™ 2060 Fisher Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 8N4 Tel: 705.740.2880 Fax: 705.745.1239 Toll Free: 1.877.745.2880 Web: www.charlotteproducts.com ™ FREE INFO: Reader Service 208 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo www.cmmonline.com 23
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