Hand Hygiene: Boost Compliance with Patient Involvement
- ORLANDO — A new hand hygiene intervention that enlisted patients and visitors to audit health care workers led to improved compliance, researchers reported.
- Kevin Gibas, associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown university,...
- Gibas told Healio that initial compliance rates were between 60% and 70%, while the hospital system aimed for 100%.
Involving patients and visitors in hand hygiene audits dramatically boosted healthcare worker hand hygiene compliance, according to a new study.The pilot program, detailed in Orlando, saw compliance rates soar to 92% after implementing patient-led audits.This innovative approach armed patients with the power to track and report on hygiene practices, utilizing QR codes for easy access to a three-question audit form. News Directory 3 reports that this active engagement not only improved compliance but also empowered patients and reinforced best practices among healthcare professionals. Discover how these sustained improvements are changing the landscape of infection prevention and care. Discover what’s next …
ORLANDO — A new hand hygiene intervention that enlisted patients and visitors to audit health care workers led to improved compliance, researchers reported.
According to dr. Kevin Gibas, associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown university, improving hand hygiene was a priority when he started his new role at Brown University Health.
Gibas told Healio that initial compliance rates were between 60% and 70%, while the hospital system aimed for 100%. To reach a threshold of 90%, they implemented novel programs.
One initiative involved a platform for staff to log hand hygiene observations and track compliance. Patients and visitors could also access this platform via a link or QR code to record audits of health care workers’ hand hygiene practices, Gibas explained.
The study,presented at the SHEA Spring meeting,detailed a 5-month pilot program (August-December) in one outpatient clinic and five inpatient units. Posters wiht program details and a QR code were placed in each room, giving patients access to a three-question audit form. The form asked about the location, whether health care workers performed hand hygiene, and if the patient felt cozy asking staff to do so.
Participants submitted 98 audits—72 from the outpatient clinic and 26 from the inpatient units.
The audits showed an average health care worker hand hygiene compliance rate of 92% in inpatient units. The lowest rate was 60% in October,while the highest was 100% during the other months.
Outpatient units also recorded their lowest rate in October (83%), with 100% compliance in September, November, and December. The average health care worker hand hygiene compliance rate was 92% in these units as well.
The combined average compliance across both inpatient and outpatient units was 92% during the pilot program, the study found.
Researchers concluded that hand hygiene compliance increased and remained above pre-intervention levels after the education and implementation of the patient/visitor auditing program.
Gibas said that involving patients and visitors in hand hygiene efforts empowers them and reinforces best practices. He added that sustained improvements have kept compliance at 88% to 89%.
Kevin Gibas, MD, MPH, can be reached at kgibas@brownhealth.org.