The Possibility of Eliminating HAIs Using RTLS

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect about one in 31 hospital patients every day. These infections can lead to serious illness or death and increase costs for both patients and the healthcare system. Eliminating HAIs requires a multifaceted approach involving education, sanitation, compliance, and other infection control measures.

Real-time location system (RTLS) solutions have become effective and affordable tools for reducing HAIs and providing insights into hospital operations. Below is an exploration of how to prevent healthcare-associated infections and the role RTLS can play.

What Are the Main Types of HAIs?

A healthcare-acquired infection is one that a patient develops during medical treatment. HAIs typically result from insufficient hygiene practices that allow pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses to infect the patient. These infections can occur in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare settings. When HAIs occur in a hospital, they may be referred to as hospital-acquired infections.

The main types of healthcare-associated infections are categorized by where the pathogen enters the body:

• ​Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs): Occur when pathogens enter the bloodstream through a central line. Central lines access major veins and can remain in place for extended periods, increasing infection risk. Strict hygiene and sterilization protocols are essential to prevent CLABSIs.
• ​Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs): UTIs are the most common type of HAI, with about 75% of hospital-acquired UTIs linked to urinary catheters.
• ​Surgical site infections (SSIs): These occur at the site of a recent surgical procedure and can range from superficial infections to those involving organs or implanted materials.
• ​Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP): Pneumonia can develop in ventilated patients when pathogens enter through the ventilator tube.

What Causes Healthcare-Associated Infections?

HAIs can arise from several factors, including:

• ​Inadequate education: Healthcare workers must understand safety and hygiene protocols, the severity of HAIs, and how they present.
• ​Perceived lack of time for hygienic tasks: Busy healthcare environments may lead workers to skip handwashing or other hygiene requirements.
• ​Accountability: Compliance and reporting help ensure hygiene standards are met. Measuring prevention practices at the department, role, and individual levels fosters accountability and promotes safe practices.
• ​Poor visibility: Identifying the sources of HAIs within a facility is crucial. Contact tracing and tracking shared equipment can help pinpoint and address HAI issues.

How to Prevent HAIs in Your Hospital

Preventing HAIs requires a comprehensive approach, and many strategies can benefit from RTLS technology.

1. Improve Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene is critical for reducing HAIs and preventing antimicrobial resistance. However, many facilities use insufficient or inefficient methods to assess compliance. RTLS offers an innovative, automatic, and cost-effective solution to decrease HAIs and other infections.

RTLS can track:

• ​Whether a healthcare worker washed their hands upon entering a room.
• ​The duration of interactions with patients or equipment.
• ​Whether handwashing occurred after interactions and before moving to the next patient room.

Accurate compliance rates are determined by comparing the number of hand-washing events to the number of opportunities for handwashing. These measurements allow hospitals to audit processes, reduce costs, improve patient outcomes, and minimize infection spread.

For example, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland implemented an RTLS system and saw a 300% improvement in hand-hygiene compliance. Its HAI rate dropped to zero in the pilot's first quarter, demonstrating the effectiveness of RTLS in improving compliance and outcomes.

2. Infection Control Management

Proper decontamination prevents bacteria growth from organic matter or bioburden. Decontamination involves cleaning, high-level disinfection, rinsing, and drying. Failure in any step increases the risk of transmitting infections.

An infection control plan requires real-time visibility and data on interactions between patients, staff, and equipment. RTLS provides an efficient way to monitor these interactions in real time, enabling better infection management and prevention of outbreaks.

Clinical-grade RTLS technology offers precise, rapid tracking at the room, bed, bay, and shelf levels. Unlike some monitoring solutions, RTLS does not require a clear line of sight and is waterproof, making it suitable for tracking storage, usage, and cleaning lifecycles of medical devices.

3. Medical Scope Lifecycle Management

Proper cleaning of medical scopes is essential for infection control. Scopes must enter the reprocessing cycle within one hour of use to prevent foreign matter from hardening and increasing infection risk.

Active RTLS can provide alerts to:

• ​Remind staff to place used scopes in a soiled area for prompt reprocessing.
• ​Signal when a scope remains in the soiled area too long.
• ​Ensure scopes are stored only for the appropriate duration (three to twelve days).

RTLS can optimize clinical workflow and reduce unnecessary reprocessing by prioritizing devices. Asset tags used in RTLS can withstand high-pressure washing and harsh disinfection chemicals, making them ideal for hospital environments.

Reduce Infection Spread With CenTrak's Solutions

Preventing HAIs is complex due to the many contact points between patients, staff, equipment, and visitors. RTLS provides data and visibility into these interactions, helping hospitals reduce HAIs and improve compliance. Additional operational benefits include reducing equipment damage from overprocessing and eliminating time spent searching for staff or tools.

CenTrak offers comprehensive location services, leveraging secure IoT systems and smart implementation to enhance patient care. Their solutions include badges, environmental monitoring, and more, supporting facilities in reducing HAIs and achieving other goals.