Move beyond the pen and paper methodology of the World Health Organization (WHO)

While many of us know May 5th as the day to find your perfect margarita, those in healthcare know it’s Clean Your Hands Day, an effort by the World Health Organization (WHO) to make hand hygiene a focal point for quality in hospitals.

We took this opportunity to analyze our data from the last 12 months to share how our system is helping hospitals break out of the status quo and establish personal accountability and data transparency for hand hygiene compliance:

• Over 20 million hand hygiene events (soap or sanitizer) recorded in the last 12 months that otherwise would have gone unreported.

• More than 9,000 caregivers are wearing a SwipeSense badge every week to track all compliance opportunities without disruption to their workflow.

• Prevention of up to 13 HAIs per day in hospitals where the SwipeSense system is in place.

According to WHO, tens of millions of patients around the world are affected by hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). They experience prolonged hospital stays, exponentially higher care costs, and some even lose their life - an unnecessary outcome that can be prevented by the simple act of hand washing.

Hospitals also bear the brunt of HAIs through reimbursement penalties, higher costs for longer stays & treatment, and public image problems that can have a long-lasting hit to their profitability and reputation within the community.

While WHO has materials to help hospitals improve their compliance programs, it still promotes pen and paper monitoring which is a) unreliable, b) labor-intensive, and c) not scalable.

Technology Automates Your Hand Hygiene Monitoring

Our mission is to help hospitals save more lives by providing seamless technology that allows caregivers to remain focused on their primary purpose: patient care. While we wish every hospital was using an electronic hand hygiene system, we also recognize that moving to a fully automated system is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you’re ready to drive real change in your hospital and feel inspired by Clean Your Hands Day, contact us to learn more about our system!