Who’s Cleaner, Your Healthcare Worker or a Little Leaguer?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in twenty patients will get a hospital acquired infection, and those infections will result in thousands of deaths. Effective hand cleanliness is a critical first line of defense in combating this problem.

Unfortunately, industry experts estimate that hospital workers effectively wash-up less than 50% of the time. That’s right, the hospital staff is about as clean as your average 12-year-old!

Hospitals have tried restroom monitors, reminder signs and punishment, all with limited success. Now the Associated Press reports on a new hi-tech solution. BioVigil Systems has been testing a badge that flashes green when hands are clean and red when they are not.

The system also tracks, by individual, the “success” and “failure” of each hand washing event.

The first pilot programs reveal a 97% to 99% effective rate. (This reminds me of those systems used to detect foreign chemicals in swimming pools.) Who would have thought we would need to protect ourselves from the very people who care for us at the most vulnerable times?

You can help yourself by demanding hand washing from everyone who treats you. OMCA can help you by reducing unnecessary hospitalizations.
Call us. We can do better.

William Faris, JD
Chief Executive Officer
502-495-5040
william.faris@omca.biz
www.omca.biz