Let’s talk about one of the greatest controversies in hand hygiene – C. diff! If you ask 10 hospital staff members what their C. diff policies are, you will often get 14 different answers and a couple of puzzled looks. This is fairly standard, and there’s even debate among Infection Control specialists and hand hygiene gurus. Let’s take a look at the reasons why and where there is still controversy. The new CDC guidelines do a great job
Dr. Chris Hermann was interviewed on Atlanta Business Radio, along with Adam Merlin of Merlin Auto Group and Brett Stevens of The SearchLogix Group. The audio is available on demand here. The show lasts one hour; however, Chris’ interview takes place in the first 20 minutes. This episode of Atlanta Business Radio was hosted by Lee Kantor and Katy Galli, who interview business owners and entrepreneurs from metro Atlanta’s leading companies.
Our new suite of data visualization tools provides unprecedented insights to Infection Preventionists and hospital managers, and allows them to quickly identify the most efficient path to hand hygiene improvement. This week, we’ll show you how you can see, at a glance, the highest risk by hospital room or patient condition. (Last week, we showed you how you can quickly identify the highest risk by individual.) Real-Time Intervention Blueprints™ Real-Time Intervention Blueprints help prevent HAIs before they start
Our new suite of data visualization tools provides unprecedented insights to Infection Preventionists and hospital managers, and allows them to quickly identify the most efficient path to hand hygiene improvement. This week, we’ll show you how you can see, at a glance, the highest risk by individual. Next week, we’ll show you how you can quickly identify the highest risk by hospital room or patient condition. Performance Bubble Plots™ Performance Bubble Plots help managers quickly and easily identify
This is one of the most common questions we get. There’s more confusion about glove usage and hand hygiene than nearly anything else – even among the most senior clinicians! We spoke with a senior-level physician at one of our hospital partners recently. This doctor was on both the Infection Control and Quality Improvement committees at the hospital. He had used our electronic hand hygiene reminder system for two years. And he asked us why our system reminded
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a looming cost and major problem for hospitals worldwide. In the increasingly competitive reality facing acute care hospitals in the United States, it’s very easy to get swept up in fees and ROI and lose focus on the more important costs to the patients. After our recent post talking about the hidden costs associated with HAIs, HAI survivor Mary Millard very appropriately pointed out that the costs associated with HAIs extend beyond the hospital
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cause preventable patient suffering and death and are expensive (click to read The Hidden Costs of HAIs). They’re also risky for three strategic reasons that many hospital executives haven’t considered: HCAHPS Scores. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey asks a variety of questions, including whether or not the patient would recommend the hospital to their friends or family. How happy do you think patients who get diff are? Patients are also
Healthcare-associated infections are expensive, not even counting the tremendous human suffering they create. There are obvious, direct costs such as reimbursement and readmission penalties, along with the danger of getting on the HAC list. (Related: read about the easiest way to get off the HAC list here.) But there are hidden, indirect costs of HAIs as well. Length of stay and operational throughput. Additional clinician time required to gown and glove. Employee health and absenteeism. And even the
The World Health Organization is calling on healthcare organizations to recognize World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5, 2018. Hand hygiene is widely recognized as the best way to reduce healthcare-associated infections, according to both the WHO and CDC: “Most health care-associated infections are preventable through good hand hygiene – cleaning hands at the right times and in the right way.” – World Health Organization “Most germs that cause serious infections in healthcare are spread by people’s actions.”
Hand hygiene is the leading cause of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Period. Every major accreditation and infection control body has a statement that reflects this. If you improve hand hygiene, infections are prevented. Despite this, many physicians and hospital leaders are surprised by the large impact hand hygiene can have. Sadly, this is nothing new; the well-established principle of hand hygiene has been known for over 150 years. Yet, despite all the body of evidence, we are still engaging
