New Research Refines Approach to Hand Hygiene

A new CDC campaign, the ‘yuck factor,’ and new research on automated surveillance.

Patient safety and infection control experts commonly refer to hand hygiene as the simplest, most effective way to prevent disease transmission.

The only problem is healthcare providers still aren’t very good at it. According to the CDC, healthcare professionals wash their hands less than half of the time, on average

But several new studies, along with a new campaign from the CDC, offer new evidence-based methods for hand hygiene compliance. These range from incentivizing providers by showing them the bacteria that’s on their hands to advancements in electronic monitoring that offer a more accurate assessment of compliance.

Coupled together, these new approaches could alter the way healthcare systems approach compliance initiatives and bump up hand hygiene rates past the halfway mark.

This is an excerpt from Patient Safety Monitor Journal. Subscribers can read the full article here. Find out more about the journal, it’s benefits, and how to subscribe by clicking here.