Location-Based Tech Solutions Increase Patient Safety
Location-based technology solutions, such as hand-hygiene compliance monitoring and asset tracking, can significantly reduce healthcare-associated infections like CLABSI, CAUTI, and VAP, which together represent some of the most common, costly, yet preventable hospital-acquired infections affecting hundreds of thousands of patients annually and costing billions to the US healthcare system.
Every day, millions of Americans put their physical wellbeing in the hands of the US healthcare system. With this in mind, it can be alarming that 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will acquire a healthcare-associated infection (HAI).
According to a recent article published by Internal Medicine News, the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) recorded 440,000 adult patients affected by HAIs in 2009, which cost the healthcare industry $9.8 billion. Among those documented were SSI, CLABSI, CAUTI, VAP and CDF, the top five most frequently occurring and costly HAIs. Interestingly enough, these were also the most preventable and well-monitored.
- Surgical Site infection (SSI)
- Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI)
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI)
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
- Clostridium difficile (CDF or C. diff) infection
As noted in the article, the “Five top hospital-acquired infections cost billions,” anywhere from half to three-quarters of all nosocomial infections documented in 2009 could have been avoided through the use of technology and infection control best practices.
Two applications which healthcare leaders should explore more closely are location-based infection prevention technologies: hand-hygiene compliance monitoring and asset tracking/management. Both of these applications can help improve patient safety by alleviating the incidence of three of the top five HAIs: CLABSI, CAUTI and VAP.
According to the CDC’s Checklist for Prevention of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections, adhering to World Health Organization (WHO) hand-hygiene best practices, sterilization of medical devices, and the appropriate placement of clean versus soiled dressings are conventions integral to lowering cases of CLABSI. Increasing compliance in these areas can mean lowering device- and hygiene-related risk factors, helping to decrease HAIs.
The same applies when dealing with CAUTI prevention. As outlined by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee in the Guideline for Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections 2009, “optimal cleaning and storage procedures (e.g., wet vs. dry storage) for catheters used for clean intermittent catheterization” is one of the important means to prevent CAUTI. This can be as simple as setting up a system which has the capacity to monitor within any given unit of a facility.
Similarly, the third most common cause of VAP is the use of contaminated equipment. Among prevention methods are active surveillance of VAP and adherence to hand-hygiene guidelines, as stated in the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s Strategies to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Acute Care Hospitals.
Implementing a system which automatically monitors and captures hand-hygiene compliance and noncompliance events 24/7 makes it easy for facilities to take corrective action and improve hand-hygiene compliance. To this end, mobile medical equipment location accuracy can play an invaluable role within the healthcare field. Knowing with 100% certainty the locations of clean (versus soiled) medical equipment and devices is critical to help prevent unnecessary infection risk.
Ultimately, the contraction of HAIs depends on several risk factors, such as patient pre-disposition as well as clinical staff education and awareness. However, to begin the process of eliminating HAIs, hospitals and other healthcare facilities can implement location-enabled applications that manage hand-hygiene compliance rates and locate contaminated assets. Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) can be implemented to promote patient satisfaction and safety while helping to ease the financial strain placed on hospitals and clinics.
Ultimately, the contraction of HAIs depends on several risk factors, such as patient pre-disposition as well as clinical staff education and awareness. However, to begin the process of eliminating HAIs, hospitals and other healthcare facilities can implement location-enabled applications that manage hand-hygiene compliance rates and locate contaminated assets. Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) can be implemented to promote patient satisfaction and safety while helping to ease the financial strain placed on hospitals and clinics.
Related
The Possibility of Eliminating HAIs Using RTLS
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which affect about one in 31 hospital patients daily and include types such as CLABSIs, CAUTIs, SSIs, and VAP, result from inadequate hygiene and pose serious health and financial risks, but can be mitigated through comprehensive infection control measures and the use of real-time location system (RTLS) technology to enhance prevention and hospital operational insights.
Measuring Hand Hygiene Compliance with Electronic Monitoring
The article discusses the limitations of traditional manual direct observation for measuring hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers, highlighting its labor-intensive nature, low coverage, and the Hawthorne Effect that inflates compliance rates, and introduces advanced Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) like CenTrak that automatically monitor hand hygiene events, provide real-time reminders, and deliver actionable insights to improve compliance and reduce healthcare-associated infections.
Did You Wash Your Hands?
The article emphasizes the critical role of proper hand hygiene in preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), highlighting how real-time location systems (RTLS) with staff badges can provide timely reminders to healthcare workers, improve compliance monitoring, and enable data-driven workflow improvements to enhance patient safety and meet regulatory standards.
Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI)
The article highlights a tuberculosis exposure incident at Emory University Hospital affecting hundreds, emphasizing how implementing CenTrak's Real-Time Location System and Hand Hygiene Compliance Monitoring technology could have precisely tracked contacts and ensured hand hygiene compliance to prevent healthcare-associated infections, thereby improving patient and staff safety through continuous, automated monitoring and data-driven insights.
Electronic Hand Hygiene Monitoring Systems for Hospitals
Electronic hand hygiene monitoring systems, such as CenTrak's, use RTLS staff badges to automatically and continuously track hand hygiene compliance in hospitals, reducing healthcare-associated infections by over 40%, saving more than $1 million annually, eliminating the inaccuracies and labor costs of manual audits, and providing actionable data to improve staff adherence and patient safety.
Hand Hygiene Compliance at Denver Health Medical Center
Denver Health Medical Center enhanced its hand hygiene compliance monitoring by implementing CenTrak’s Electronic Compliance Monitoring technology in April 2016, which provided objective, continuous, and location-based data across all shifts, overcoming the limitations of traditional direct observation methods and enabling healthcare workers to improve adherence through personalized performance feedback.