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Cleaning protocols curb
C. difficile infection
Automated
surveillance technology
HAI
prevention in action
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Cleaning protocols
curb C. difficile infection
“There is increasing
concern over the continued emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms
(MDROs) and infections caused by Clostridium difficile (CDI),”
said Russell N. Olmsted, MPH, CIC, 2011 president of the
Association
for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). “To
reverse this emergence, infection preventionists attending [the APIC
Annual Conference] will learn about their role in a facility-wide
antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), as well as the latest
research on control and prevention of these problematic pathogens. For
CDI in particular, this plus some strains of other MDROs are
increasingly found in the environment around patients. Novel
strategies for whole room or area disinfection will be reviewed at
this conference as another strategy for prevention based on a
facility’s risk assessment.”
Kirsten Thompson, a
senior program leader at
Ecolab Research, Development and Engineering,
explained, “C. difficile spores are easy to spread and
difficult to kill. In its endospore form, C. difficile has a resilient
spore coat and can remain viable on surfaces for several weeks, even
months. Healthcare facilities should use EPA-registered hard surface
disinfectants with label claims against C. difficile spores. It
is also important for healthcare facilities to implement cleaning and
monitoring programs to ensure that all appropriate surfaces are
cleaned effectively.
“Because of the
endurance of C. difficile spores and the manner by which
they’re transmitted, an infection prevention strategy must include
both hand hygiene and environmental hygiene protocols to help break
the chain of transmission,” she added.
When choosing a
surface disinfectant, “You should always look at the EPA-registered
disinfectant and see if they are effective against C. difficile,”
advised Craig Stevenson, vice president/general manager,
Clorox
Professional Products Company. “Clorox Germicidal Bleach was the first
product to have an EPA C. difficile spore claim and that was at
ten minutes. Subsequently we’ve been working on products like Dispatch
including Dispatch wipes now that will kill C. difficile spores
in five minutes.”
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Clorox Germicidal Bleach & Dispatch products |
In addition to
traditional Clorox Germicidal Bleach products, DISPATCH Hospital
Cleaner Disinfectant products from Clorox are available in wipe and
spray formulations. Stevenson noted that wipes and sprays offer “the
power of bleach and its efficacy against C. difficile in a
really convenient form. It’s much easier to use wipes, much easier to
use sprays that are already mixed have the right levels of
disinfecting agents in them versus having to mix your own bleach
onsite.”
The new DISPATCH
Disinfectant Towels with Bleach are a pre-moistened towel with a 1:10
sodium hypochlorite bleach solution, with additives such as
surfactants, fragrance, and corrosion inhibiting agents. Dispatch is
also available in a Patient Transport Solution that packages the
Dispatch Disinfecting Towels with Bleach into a flexible Soft Pack
with attachment straps to attach to mobile equipment such as
stretchers, wheelchairs or IV poles; Dispatch Canister, ideal for use
in the ER, radiology, patient rooms and GI suites; a re-sealable Soft
Pack with a flat package design to store easily; and individually
wrapped Dispatch towels for disinfecting needs on the go.
Thompson described
Ecolab’s new offering to help stop CDI transmission. “Though
healthcare facilities may have been previously limited to bleach
solutions, there are new products available, like Virasept, that
effectively kill C. difficile spores, while also providing
greater material compatibility, enhanced convenience and ease-of-use.
Virasept is an EPA-registered, ready-to-use solution that kills C.
difficile spores in 10 minutes on hard non-porous surfaces. It is
also effective against a broad spectrum of organisms including MDROs.
Virasept is formulated for use in daily cleaning. It will not damage
clothing, hard surfaces or floor finish, does not leave a chalky
residue and does not smell like bleach.”
When it comes to
ensuring adherence to cleaning protocols, training is key. Clorox also
offers education and training materials including a C. difficile
kit that features DVDs on cleaning protocols and instructions for
using Clorox products in the hospital setting.
Stevenson described
recommended protocols for terminal cleaning. “It’s important to clean
and disinfectant high-touch surfaces in any room during the terminal
cleaning process. High-touch areas would include things like the
doorknob, handles, bed rails, bed frame, call button, phone, TV
remote, countertop, trays, light switches – places that people’s hands
touch frequently are really important to disinfect as part of a
comprehensive cleaning routine for a patient room.”
Further, “If you get
into C. difficile isolation rooms, there are other tasks,
things like how do you deal with the trash and soiled linens? You have
to collect those and isolate those and then not only clean high-touch
surfaces in those rooms, but probably do a much more comprehensive
cleaning in those rooms [including floors and all bathroom surfaces]
because you know that you had a C. difficile outbreak in there.
We have a process laid out as far as how you would do that and we
share that with healthcare providers when requested,” he said.
Ecolab offers a
comprehensive program to help control C. difficile that
includes a variety of hand hygiene products and dispensing options, as
well as the EnCompass Environmental Hygiene Program, featuring
Virasept non-bleach C. difficile sporicide and DAZO fluorescent
marking gel to help objectively monitor cleaning outcomes, along with
training, education and support in environmental and hand hygiene best
practices, Thompson noted.
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Ecolab Virasept |
“An environmental
hygiene program should include effective chemistry, proper tools and a
monitoring method to verify cleaning outcomes,” Thompson added.
“Bathrooms should be a focus area for thorough cleaning and
disinfection as C. difficile is shed in fecal matter.
Particular attention should be paid to toilets, bedpans, bedpan
cleaners, and high-touch objects such as door handles, light switches,
grab bars, flush handles and sink fixtures. It’s important to remember
that bathrooms may require thorough pre-cleaning to remove any visible
soil that could harbor spores. This should be followed by disinfection
with an EPA-registered disinfectant with efficacy against C.
difficile spores. Due to the risk of surface to hand and hand to
surface transfer of C. difficile spores, all high-touch objects
in the patient room, including bed rails, light switches, door
handles, tray and bedside tables, remote controls and call buttons,
should receive similar attention.”
Stevenson offered
some sound advice for healthcare facilities. “I would advocate rather
than having a reactive program to a known outbreak of C. difficile
that the best solution is a proactive program to help prevent
C. difficile infections, and an important step in that proactive
program is a comprehensive environmental surface disinfection program
with an EPA-registered [product] that actually will kill C.
difficile spores.”
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Automated surveillance technology
With nearly every new
infection prevention initiative, comes the need for infection
preventionists (IPs) to gather and report more data. While this data
is exceedingly important for making progress in reducing healthcare
associated infections (HAIs), without the right tools to help with
this process IPs risk getting buried in paperwork and losing touch
with the patients they’re charged with protecting.
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CareFusion's
MedMined |
“[Surveillance
technology] has become increasingly important as IPs are being asked
by an increasing array of organizations for data on healthcare
associated infection (HAI) at their affiliates,” observed Russell N.
Olmsted, MPH, CIC, and 2011 president for the Association for
Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
“Most recently CMS is
encouraging facilities with Adult and/or NICUs to report [central line
associated blood stream infections] CLABSI to CMS via CDC’s [National
Healthcare Safety Network] NHSN,” he added. “Measuring and monitoring
performance is critical but this also takes resources and this
increase in responsibilities for the IP is inhibiting their ability to
interact and support direct care providers in patient care units with
their prevention programs. Surveillance technology holds promise in
making surveillance more efficient so the IP will have time to work
more closely with providers. Automated systems that use detection
algorithms is one example of use of [information technology] IT in an
efficient manner to identify possible cases of HAIs.”
Olmsted noted that
APIC published an updated position paper last year: “The Importance of
Surveillance Technologies in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated
Infections (HAIs),”
available on APIC’s website.1
Stan McDuffie, senior
consultant, clinical specialty for MedMined services of
CareFusion,
commented, “Federal and state mandates have generated multiple
reporting requirements for Infection Prevention. Automated
surveillance tools can now generate accurate, objective data that
assist the infection prevention team in not only recognizing
opportunities to improve patient safety, but also in streamlining
state and federal reporting requirements. Any surveillance system
under consideration should include a capability to automatically
screen for likely cases of HAI, while maintaining clinical oversight
on the part of Infection Prevention. Compliance with NHSN reporting
guidelines and the functionality to integrate with NHSN data
collection tools is also a necessity.”
Salah S. Qutaishat,
Ph.D., CIC, FSHEA, director of infection prevention,
Premier
Healthcare Informatics, described how automated infection surveillance
technology is poised to elevate healthcare IP practices to a higher
level. “Automated surveillance frees IPs from the monotony of manually
sorting through reams of paper trying to find trends, clusters and
outbreaks. By removing time consuming, inefficient tasks, IPs are free
to do tasks that are necessary to improve infection prevention
practices within their facilities.” In addition, “automation allows
for better standardization of data collection and removes
inconsistencies in measuring HAIs. It also allows for the creation of
more timely HAI prevention interventions.”
Mining the options
There are a number of
options available for automated infection surveillance, with varying
degrees of capabilities to meet the needs of any size healthcare
facility or IP department.
Premier’s
SafetySurveillor offers real-time surveillance, mining data from five
disparate computer systems, including Laboratory, Admission/Discharge
and Transfer, Pharmacy, Radiology and Surgery.
Qutaishat described
the key role that Premier’s SafetySurveillor – Pharmacy module plays
in helping to curb antibiotic resistant organisms by promoting
antimicrobial stewardship. “SafetySurveillor gives Pharmacists the
tools to track true antibiotic administration usage. Automation
enhances intervention opportunities for proper antibiotic therapy.
Through its real time alerting capability, SafetySurveillor can alert
Pharmacists to patients who are candidates for De-escalation and IV to
PO conversion. Additionally, through the use of SafetySurveillor’s
Real Time Antibiogram, pharmacists have access to current
susceptibility data which can help drive rational treatment options
leading to improved outcomes.”
BD Protect Infection
Prevention enables real-time infection surveillance by integrating
patient data from admission, surgical, microbiology laboratory,
pharmacy and other hospital systems.
According to Kathy
Warye, vice president, infection prevention, advantages of BD Protect
include alerts and reports to inform IPs of potential HAI-related
events as they unfold so they can focus on improving processes and
outcomes. BD Protect provides new MDRO alerts and evidence-based
surveillance for surgical site and central line infections, she noted.
In addition, BD
Protect helps support compliance with National Patient Safety Goals as
well as HAI Mandatory Reporting to NHSN. “BD Protect transfers,
transforms and validates patient data for CDC readiness, and creates
and NHSN import file to reduce NHSN manual data entry,” aid Warye.
In addition to
helping IPs meet reporting requirements, extensive data analysis is a
key benefit of automated surveillance systems such as BD Protect, said
Warye. “NHSN benchmarking, control charts and statistical tools
provide unlimited analysis of HAI-related data,” she said.
“BD and Bruker are
collaborating to promote an emerging, integrated approach to bacterial
and fungal identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing,”
Warye added. “Through this collaboration, identification of
microorganisms will be performed with the Bruker MALDI Biotyper, a
mass spectrometry-based proteomic ‘fingerprinting’ system specifically
configured for rapid identification of bacteria, yeast and fungi. The
Bruker MALDI Biotyper allows highly accurate, rapid and cost-effective
identification through a process in which organisms are identified by
the unique spectrum of the major proteins and peptides that constitute
their makeup.
“The combination of
the two leading technologies, the BD Phoenix System and the MALDI
Biotyper, and the data management through the BD EpiCenter System,
will provide laboratorians with a groundbreaking new approach to
identification and susceptibility testing, which will reduce the
turnaround time for critical diagnostic results, while also improving
laboratory efficiency and costs.”
McDuffie described
key benefits of CareFusion’s MedMined services, “MedMined services of
CareFusion provide tools and services to survey data relating to the
incidence of HAIs to help hospitals improve patient safety and lower
the cost of healthcare. Products and services offered can be used by
and are designed to streamline workflow for the infection prevention
team, to help make reporting more efficient and enhance communication
with nursing to improve the process of care.”
According to
McDuffie, MedMined features: Rapid implementation (45-60 days) with
minimal impact on hospital IT; Standardized clinical implementation
model backed by unlimited customer service and support provided by a
multi-disciplinary clinical and executive relationship management
team; a patented data-mining solution, Data Mining Surveillance
service (DMSS), for infection surveillance and clinical process
analysis; an objective, peer-reviewed, electronic case-finding
methodology for HAI, the Nosocomial Infection Marker (NIM); proven
ability to report any accepted HAI event to NHSN; and risk-adjusted,
automated, objective benchmarking of infection prevention performance.
“As one of the top
infection surveillance service that offers ongoing customer-focused
technical, financial and clinical support as part of our standard
service, MedMined services has an experienced team to ensure customers
are empowered to apply our tools most efficiently,” said McDuffie.
“The MedMined services model complements the technology and helps
translate clinical activity into facility-specific financial
analytics.”
Executive support
buoys adoption
Whereas
traditionally, support and resources made available to infection
prevention departments has been less than adequate, however CEOs and
other C-suite executives are beginning to take notice of the value
that automated surveillance technology can bring to their
organizations.
“Executives are recognizing the clear clinical benefits of providing
their hospital epidemiology staff with better tools,” McDuffie
described. “At the same time, the current economic climate and new
reimbursement guidelines require that any expenditure on infection
prevention provide a real impact to the bottom line. The assessment of
any healthcare IT application should include a request for evidence of
attributable improvements in patient safety and financial outcomes at
the client facility, in addition to demonstrations of available
features and estimated time savings.”
Qutaishat noted, “As
we move forward in the era of healthcare reform, administrators are
beginning to see that automation is the most efficient way to stay on
the cutting edge. According to APIC, ‘CA Hospitals using automated
surveillance to identify HAIs were more likely than those using manual
methods to reduce MRSA infections (85% vs. 66%); VAP (96% vs.88%); and
SSI (91% vs. 82%).’”
Confirmed Olmsted,
“There is optimism that executive management will investigate and then
invest in use of IT to support surveillance of HAIs plus some of these
newer applications have additional uses for the ASP.”
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Five steps to
making the business case for automated infection
surveillance technology
Step
One:
Rationale:
Step
Two:
Rationale:
Step
Three:
-
Calculate
the annual cost of HAIs in your hospital using the CDC
data
-
Calculate
the % of HAIs that could be prevented and the costs
avoided using the CDC data on Direct Medical Costs of
Healthcare Associated Infections.
Rationale:
Step
Four:
Rationale:
Step
Five:
Rationale:
~Salah S. Qutaishat, Ph.D., CIC, FSHEA, director of
infection prevention,
Premier Healthcare Informatics |
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Building a
business case
While the benefits of
automated surveillance are clear to any infection preventionist, as
well as to an increasing number of healthcare executives, securing
funds can still pose a challenge at many cash-strapped facilities.
McDuffie offered the
following advice: “The success of any surveillance solution should be
tied to demonstrable improvements in patient safety and financial
outcomes. These improvements can only be achieved if a system can
complement their current infection prevention workflow while expanding
the capability to recognize process breakdowns, share data with the
affected clinical locations and provide consistent feedback on
prevention performance.”
“Prior to requesting
a solution,” he continued, “it is imperative for the infection
prevention team to recognize the true impact of HAIs on the hospital’s
bottom line, as well as the cost savings and length of stay avoidance
achieved through infection reduction. Additionally, understanding the
annual hospital expenditure for antimicrobials can be very valuable.”
“During product
evaluation, an appreciation for the total cost of ownership of a
solution is necessary. Questions to consider [include]: What customer
support is included in the service? How much standard training is
provided to the client? Are upgrades provided for an additional fee?
Is all demonstrated functionality guaranteed to be included?”
Finally, and “perhaps
most importantly, engagement of executive leadership early in the
buying process is key,” said McDuffie. “The team tasked with
evaluating surveillance technology vendors should strive to educate
the executive champion on the changing landscape of infection
prevention, being careful to grant equal time to the discussion of the
pending impact of CMS reimbursement changes along with mandatory
reporting requirements.”
Olmsted encourages
IPs to take advantage of resources available through APIC to help make
the business case for automated surveillance technology in their own
facilities, including APIC’s Program Evaluation Tool,2 available
online at APIC.org.
“One place to start
is to list all organizations that require HAI data, how often, which
sites and then use Gap analysis to illustrate to executive management
these against the resources that are available,” Olmsted suggested.
“Surveillance technology is one solution but not the complete
solution. Regardless the business case needs to be concise and clear
as executive management is under considerable pressure to be good
stewards of all resources for patient care.”
References:
1.
APIC. Surveillance technology resources. Washington DC: APIC, 2010.
2.
APIC. IP Program Evaluation Tool.
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HAI prevention in action
With the announcement in April
2011, of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’)
Partnership for Patients initiative, hospitals nationwide have renewed
their pledge to reduce healthcare acquired conditions (HACs) and in
particular certain healthcare acquired infections (HAIs). The goal
being to reduce HACs by 40 percent by the end of 2013, the Partnership
for Patients has identified nine areas of focus to begin its efforts,
singling out HAIs such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections
(CAUTI), central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI),
pressure ulcers, surgical site infections (SSI), and
ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Many facilities have already been
taking steps to reduce HAIs by instituting proven clinical protocols
and adding products to help increase compliance.
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| Sage Products 2% CHG cloths |
For example, explained Kym Foglia,
vice president of marketing,
Sage Products Inc., “Hospital-acquired
pneumonias (HAPs), including VAP, often start in the oral cavity.
Several professional organizations, including the CDC, AACN, APIC and
SHEA, recognize comprehensive oral care as key to addressing VAP and
HAP. Sage Products’ Toothette Oral Care Systems address key VAP risk
factors with a comprehensive approach based on cleaning, debriding,
suctioning and moisturizing the entire oral cavity. Toothette’s Q•Care
Oral Cleansing and Suctioning Systems incorporate 24-hour systems,
innovative tools and effective solutions that facilitate compliance to
an oral care protocol.”
“Compliance to an oral care
protocol is essential to reducing risk factors for HAP and VAP,”
Foglia continued. “Toothette Oral Care goes beyond tools and cleansing
solutions alone by providing effective, evidence-based protocols for
oral care. Our products and protocols are shown to be effective in
improving compliance.”
In addition, “most SSIs come from
bacteria already found on a patient’s skin,” said Foglia. “Sage 2%
Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) Cloths address multi-drug resistant
organisms on the skin, a known risk factor for SSIs. Sage’s unique,
alcohol-free, rinse-free formula is designed for early preop skin
prep. It is quick drying and stays on the skin for maximum
persistence, unlike bottled solutions where the active ingredient is
washed down the drain.”
“CDC Recommendations for
Prevention of Surgical Site Infection call for patients to ‘shower or
bathe with an antiseptic agent on at least the night before the
operative day.’1 Sage 2% CHG Cloths’ rinse-free formula and
easy applicator cloth make it simple for facilities and patients to
comply with this guideline,” Foglia noted.
Sage 2% CHG Cloths also feature Prep Check Verification Labels on each
package to help improve patient compliance by notifying staff that a
patient’s skin has been prepped the night before, the morning of or
whenever protocol requires, Foglia explained.
Foglia described how one facility realized a nearly 90 percent drop in
VAP rates, as well as saw compliance rates increase from 57 percent to
almost 70 percent, after implementing an oral care protocol using
Toothette Oral Care Q•Care Systems.2
In addition, “A study using an
oral care protocol including Toothette Oral Care Systems saw a 33
percent reduction in VAP, plus fewer vent days, shorter length of stay
and decreased mortality rates,”3 said Foglia. “One facility
had a VAP rate of zero for three straight years after implementing an
oral care protocol that included Toothette Oral Care Systems.4
Another study saw a 60 percent reduction in VAP after
implementing comprehensive oral care with Toothette products.”5
Using Sage 2% CHG Cloths, “one
facility saw a 66 percent reduction in SSIs and a cost avoidance of
$349,000 over a 10-month period,” 6 shared Foglia. “Another
facility saw its SSI rate drop to zero 12 months after adding Sage 2%
CHG Cloths.”7
Hand hygiene, as well as
environmental cleaning are key strategies for reducing the spread of
bacteria and multiple drug resistant organisms such as
Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA)
that can cause any number of HAIs.
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PDI Sani-Cloth Germicidal
Disposable Wipes |
“A comprehensive infection
prevention program is the key to preventing the transmission of
healthcare associated infections in any type of healthcare facility,”
emphasized J. Hudson Garrett Jr., PhD, director, clinical affairs,
PDI
Healthcare. “The most basic intervention to break the chain of
infection is hand hygiene either with soap and water or alcohol based
hand hygiene products such as impregnated wipes, which are more
effective than gels because of their ability to create friction and
remove more soil and microorganisms. Contaminated hands are the most
common source of transmission, as well as colonization.”
“In addition, the environment
contributes to transmission via contaminated surfaces,” he continued.
“Routine cleaning and disinfection of high touch surfaces and shared
medical equipment will reduce the risk for transmission. It is
important to use an EPA-registered, hospital-grade disinfectant for
all disinfection. Cleaning should precede disinfection. PDI supports
infection prevention by helping customers develop and implement
comprehensive infection prevention programs. A team of medical science
liaisons direct the Company’s training and education programs that
help improve compliance and appropriate use of Sani-Cloth Germicidal
Disposable Wipes.”
According to Garrett, Sani-Cloth
Germicidal Disposable Wipes from PDI Healthcare provide clinicians a
comprehensive offering of low alcohol, high alcohol, alcohol-free and
bleach wipes to meet the facility’s individual infection prevention
and equipment needs.
He noted, “Germicidal wipes are designed to be used on hard,
non-porous surfaces in accordance with the evidence-based guidelines
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High touch
surfaces such as blood pressure cuffs, exam tables, stretchers,
glucometers, pulse oximeters and stethescopes, etc. should be cleaned
and disinfected between patients to reduce the risk for transmission
of microorganisms from one patient to another. In accordance with the
latest guidelines from the CDC, bleach solutions should only be used
in circumstances when there is an uncontrolled outbreak or abnormally
high endemic rates despite regular infection prevention efforts.”
According to Garrett, “PDI has
helped a number of facilities throughout the U.S. significantly reduce
their healthcare associated infection rates using PDI products along
with educational support. Most recently, Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta published the
[KEK1] results of its efforts to reduce the incident of
Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs). As a result of its
intervention, which included the use of the PDI Super Sani-Cloth and
training to encourage compliance, Children’s Healthcare was able to
reduce MDRO incidence by over 48 percent.”
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| Germ Pro Hand Sanitizing Lotion and
Surface Disinfectant |
Germ Pro Products Inc. offers a
Persistent Action Plan that features the combination of Germ Pro Hand
Sanitizing Lotion and the company’s Surface Disinfectant, both with
persistence (long term killing power), to help prevent HAIs by killing
pathogens before they can become infections, described Wayne C.
Albright, president, Germ Pro Products.
Germ Pro’s alcohol-free Hand
Sanitizing Lotion is FDA compliant as an “Antiseptic Hand Wash” and an
“Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizing Lotion”, he said. “It has a broad
spectrum, persistent, 99.9% kill that only needs reapplying every 3-4
hours. The lotion forms a hydrophobic, polymeric layer on the skin,
and does not easily wash off. This protection against constant
washings and harsh alcohol sanitizers normally heals dry, cracked
hands within seven days. Also, the non-toxic, hypoallergenic lotion is
enriched with moisturizers to help keep hands soft. Hospitals report
that compliance to hand hygiene guidelines improves because hands are
protected against damage and it doesn't hurt to wash hands,” noted
Albright. “Our lotion is to be used in addition to HICPAC hand hygiene
guidelines to kill in-between hand washings.”
Germ Pro Surface Disinfectant was
developed to be used in conjunction with Germ Pro’s Hand Sanitizing
Lotion. Independent laboratory tests indicate that the surface
disinfectant persistently kills pathogens up to 28 days. Described
Albright, “the Surface Disinfectant is applied only to ‘touch points’,
on a monthly basis, after normal cleaning. In patient rooms, Germ Pro
recommends it be applied to touch points after every terminal clean.”
Germ Pro’s EPA-registered Surface
Disinfectant is also registered as a “Medical Device” (FDA 510k) to
disinfect non-critical medical devices, he noted.
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare
Association (VHHA) partnered with Germ Pro Products Inc. in the spring
of 2010. They arranged for trials at 4 hospitals (4 separate hospital
groups). As a result of the four successful trials, 14 hospital
campuses have adopted Germ Pro after realizing significant decreases
in HAIs averaging 41.5 percent within 90 days. Compared to baseline,
59 fewer infections were reported, saving over $1.2 million, Albright
shared.
“Germ Pro guarantees a 25 percent
reduction in HAIs within 90 days but expect a higher reduction rate
(current average is over 40 percent),” he added.
References:
1. Mangram AJ, et al., Guideline
for prevention of surgical site infection. 1999 Centers for Disease
Control & Prevention, Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory
Committee, Atlanta, GA.
2. Hutchins K, Karras G. A comprehensive oral care program reduced
ventilator associated pneumonia in ICU patients. Mercy Medical Center,
Springfield, MA. Poster presented at 2008 APIC Conference.
3. Garcia R, Reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia through advanced
oral-dental care: a 48-month study. AJCC, July 2009, Doi: 10.4037.
4. Lipke B, Carman V, Sustained reduction in ventilator-associated
pneumonia (VAP) using a two-hospital multidisciplinary approach that
includes oral care and regular staff education. Poster presented at
2008 APIC Annual Conference: June 2008.
5. Schleder B, et al., J Advocate Health Care. 2002 Spr/Sum; 4(1):
27-30.
6. Rhee H, Harris B, Preoperative skin preparation protocol results in
reduced SSI rates. Presented at Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI),
Orlando, FL Dec 2007.
7. Livingston B, Challenges and experience with implementing patient
preopereative skin preparation in a veterans administration (VA)
health system to prevent surgical site infections. Poster presented at
APIC, June 2007. |
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