At Herz-Jesu-Hospital in Münster, Westphalia, another healthcare facility has made the leap to fully automatic monitoring of hand hygiene for improved compliance and patient safety.
More than 40 intelligent disinfectant dispensers measure the hygiene behaviour in an intensive care unit.
At Herz-Jesu-Hospital in Münster, Westphalia, another healthcare facility has made the leap to fully automatic monitoring of hand hygiene for improved compliance and patient safety.
Since September 2017, the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® (OHMS) has been used in an intensive care unit of the hospital. With the introduction of the system, hygiene managers have been granted access to continuous data on hand hygiene behaviour from more than 40 hand disinfectant dispensers via web-based software. Through these dispensers, potential areas of improvement can be identified promptly and implemented through process changes or targeted training courses.
High visibility colors increase attention to hand hygiene
In the intensive care unit, immunocompromised patients are of particular concern, and the demands concerning hygiene standards are correspondingly high. Beyond the OHMS electronic monitoring system, the clinic is also betting on psychological aspects of their dispensers: to improve compliance, all WiFi-capable dispensers are coated in eye-catching, high-vis red colour.
Positive effects in everyday practice
Astrid Gödel, hygiene specialist at the Herz-Jesu-Hospital Münster-Hiltrup, reports:
“Since mid-September 2017, the Ophardt Hygiene Monitoring System® has enabled us to perform an objective and continuous analysis of the hand hygiene compliance of our staff. In addition, the system allows us to assess optimal dispenser placement.
These functions allow us to determine the actual hand hygiene compliance according to the WHO model – without problems such as bias or Hawthorne effect entering the equation – within the department and to improve our infection prevention in a sustainable, targeted manner.
In a period of only four months, the use of disinfectants in the intensive care unit of the Herz Jesu Hospital increased by 34 percent. This is attributed to an improvement in hygiene compliance through the system and improved visibility of the new dispensers in bright red, high vis color.”
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