The implementation of a leading-edge, automated hand hygiene monitoring system has earned Children’s Nebraska the first-ever Lucian Leape Institute Medtronic Safety Culture & Technology Innovator Team Award from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF).
The inaugural IHI/NPSF recognition honors individuals and teams who use their organization’s safety culture—or who affect culture change—in implementing extraordinary and innovative technology that is effective and sustainable.
Consistent hand cleaning is essential to infection control in health care settings, and yet the use of human auditors to monitor compliance proves limiting and presents challenges in terms of enforcement. Children’s embraced Biovigil as a solution; the trailblazing system uses electronic sensors and user-specific badges to monitor and report hand hygiene practice. In addition to providing real-time observation, the system delivers positive reinforcement of hand hygiene practice and a visual confirmation for patients and families. The system collects comprehensive user data, which is then analyzed by Children’s team for further evaluation and improvement. Since Biovigil was implemented, the organization has seen a substantial decline in hospital-acquired infections.
