Partnership Increases Hand Hygiene Compliance

A new partnership between TeleTracking Technologies; Hill-Rom Company; and GOJO, makers of Purell® hand sanitizer, will allow hospitals to use TeleTracking’s Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) to track, measure, and report hand hygiene compliance – a critical tool in the fight against hospital-acquired infections, which claim up to 100,000 lives and cost hospitals an estimated $45 billion each year.

While RTLS systems are typically used to provide at-a-glance information on the location and status of equipment and staff workflow, the integration of TeleTracking’s AssetTracking® RTLS system with Hill-Rom® Hand Hygiene Compliance Solution and GOJO SMARTLINK Technology will enable hospitals to use their existing or new TeleTracking RTLS system to monitor and record each time a staff member uses – or does not use – a hand-hygiene station.

Studies have repeatedly shown that, without encouragement, hospital workers may only wash their hands once out of every three times they interact with patients. The RTLS-linked compliance system works by first alerting caregivers with a gentle reminder as they enter a care environment. When a staff member uses the hands-free dispenser, an internal wireless transmitter lights up an external window confirming use, and data on use is recorded. That data provides hospitals with the information they need to measure staff compliance, establish accountability, and ultimately, save lives.

The system is also valuable to hospital leaders faced with reimbursement penalties and possible lawsuits due to infection.

Institutions that have implemented Hill-Rom’s Hand Hygiene Compliance Solution have experienced a significant increase in their hand hygiene compliance. In fact, an independent research study conducted by GOJO at the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, concluded that hand hygiene compliance rates increased 92 percent (from 16.5 percent at baseline to 31.7 percent) when an electronic monitoring system was included in a hand hygiene program. 

“TeleTracking’s AssetTracking RTLS technology gives hospitals status and location on equipment and supplies for staff throughout the organization, from a nurse in need of specific supplies for a patient to an IT manager trying to locate equipment for preventative maintenance,” says Michael Gallup, president, TeleTracking Technologies. “Now, that same locating technology is also able to establish whether the hands caring for those patients are clean. The concept is simple, but the impact in terms of patient outcomes is immeasurable.”