The Impact of HAIs

2,000,000 Reasons for Clinicians to Wash Their Hands

• Failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene is considered the leading cause of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs).*
• Nearly 2 million patients suffer from HAIs in the US annually, of which ~5% or 100,000 patients die each year as a result.*
• Despite these facts, clinicians within patient healthcare settings are less than 50% compliant with current hand hygiene guidelines.*
• Incremental treatment costs exceed $40 billion annually.

*Data on file at HanGenix™.

Risks to Hospitals Are Far Beyond Higher Treatment Costs

• Losing millions of dollars in CMS reimbursements
• Building negative reputation due to published infection rates
• Losing Joint Commission accreditation
• Accelerating anti-microbial resistance
• Fighting expensive litigation

“Best Practice” for Monitoring Hand Hygiene is Hardly “Best”

The primary means of monitoring clinician compliance with hand hygiene guidelines has been observation – an approach fraught with inaccuracies, unreliable data, and high costs.

• Sampling of less than 1% of hand washing opportunities
• Rates skewed higher because individuals know they are being observed (Hawthorne effect)
• Data capture impacted by human bias and error
• Lack of individual accountability
• Limited, actionable insights

Technologies using RFID, Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), and Soap Counters fail to deliver

• Lack accuracy and granularity
• Only measure room entry and exit versus W.H.O. guidelines
• Are very expensive, difficult, and time-consuming to install

These limitations have resulted in <1% adoption of the hand hygiene technology market in US hospitals.