Big Data Reduces Infections
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
Real-time data collection increases staff hygiene, prevents the spread of infection
CDC reports nearly two million patients contract hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) each year, and 90,000 die as a result. Now, OhioHealth and IBM are working to put a stop to the bad hygiene that often causes it. Using RFID, monitors at hand washing stations link to staff ID and detect when a member enters and leaves a hospital room. It is also able to tell if they use the hand washing station while they are in the room, data that is digitally streamed to a central location to produce reports.
In a pilot study, the rate of proper hand washing has increased from 70 percent to more than 90 percent at one of OhioHealth’s eight hospital campuses, according to Health IT Analytics. This 20 percent increase is impressive, even more so when compared to “a relatively poor 50 percent national average rate.”
"OhioHealth is always looking for smarter ways to protect the health of our patients," said Michael Krouse, Sr. VP & CIO OhioHealth, OhioHealth on Medical Xpress. "Superbugs like MRSA can live for hours on surfaces, and we want to do everything we can to protect our patients from these kinds of serious infections. Working with IBM, we will gain additional insights that will help us consistently achieve total compliance with hand-washing standards and fight back against these bugs."
HAIs are estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system $4.5 billion in related medical expenses every year. “Analyzing hand-washing data gives stakeholders deep insights into the compliance levels of different departments, shifts, job roles, as well as variations based on other social behavioral factors,” writes Medical Express. “The real-time information is used to alert hospital personnel when proper hygiene habits are not being followed so that corrective action can be taken to reduce germ exposure to patients.”
"Hospitals everywhere are grappling with ways to prevent infections, and we believe OhioHealth's forward-thinking approach will raise the bar for the entire industry," said Dr. Sergio Bermudez, an IBM research scientist. "Innovative organizations like OhioHealth are leveraging the power of technology to provide smarter care for their patients to improve quality while reducing cost.”
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