Hand Hygiene Tool Significantly Decreases Hospital Acquired Infections

A novel solution to improve hand hygiene compliance developed by the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare (JCC; Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA) is associated with sustained reductions in healthcare associated infections (HAIs), according to a new study.

Researchers at Memorial Hermann Health System (MHHS; Houston, TX, USA) introduced the JCC web-based Targeted Solutions Tool (TST) for hand hygiene in 150 inpatient units in 12 system hospitals in 2010, and subsequently implemented a system-wide process improvement project that went on from October 2010 through December 2014. At project completion, the researchers collected and analyzed data on rates of intensive care unit (ICU) central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) events throughout the time period.

The results showed that based on 31,600 observations during the initial phase (October 2010 to May 2011), the MHHS system-wide hand hygiene compliance baseline rate averaged at 58.1%; during the improvement phase (June 2011 to November 2012), compliance averaged out at 84.4%; During the control phase (December 2012 to December 2014), compliance rose to 94.7% in the first 13 months, while compliance rose to 95.6% in the final 12 months of the program. Concomitantly, adult ICU CLABSI and VAP rates decreased by 49% and 45%, respectively. The study was in published in the January 2016 issue of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

“The TST enabled MHHS to measure compliance rates, identify reasons for noncompliance, implement tested interventions provided by the TST, and sustain the improvements,” concluded lead authors M. Michael Shabot, MD, of MHHS, and Mark Chassin, MD, MPP, MPH, of the JCC, and colleagues. “MHHS substantially improved hand hygiene compliance in its hospitals and sustained high levels of compliance for 25 months following implementation.”

The Targeted Solutions Tool (TST) is an innovative application that guides health care organizations through a step-by-step process that accurately measures an organization’s actual performance, identifies barriers to excellent performance, and directs them to proven solutions customized to address their particular barriers. For hand hygiene compliance, the TST describes a minimum number of times a health care worker should conduct hand hygiene when entering and exiting a patient’s room, defined as “wash in/wash out” phase.

Related Links:
The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare
Memorial Hermann Health System