US Joint Commission embarks on programme to improve hand hygiene in healthcare institutions
The Joint Commission, an independent, organisation that accredits and certifies healthcare organisations in the US, has launched the Center for Transforming Healthcare. The Center’s first initiative is tackling hand-washing failures that contribute to healthcare-associated infections that kill some100,000 Americans each year and costs US hospitals billions annually to combat.
Eight leading hospitals and health systems volunteered to address hand-washing failures as a critical patient safety problem.
“Demanding that healthcare workers try harder is not the answer. These healthcare organisations have the courage to step forward to tackle the problem of hand-washing by digging deep to find out where the breakdowns take place, so we can create targeted solutions that will work now and keep working in the future,” said Mark Chassin, president, The Joint Commission.
The participating hospitals have set out to solve the problems – soap or alcohol-based hand rubs that are not convenient for caregivers to use, faulty data that lull facilities into thinking hand-washing is occurring more frequently than it is, and lack of individual accountability.
The solutions from the Center now being tested include holding everyone accountable and responsible – doctors, nurses, food service staff, housekeepers, chaplains, technicians, therapists – using a reliable method to measure performance; communicate frequently and use real time performance feedback; and tailor education in proper hand hygiene for specific disciplines.
The hope is that these practical strategies, based on methods such as Lean Six Sigma long used by other industries, will help transform US healthcare.
Future projects will focus on improving other aspects of infection control, mix-ups in patient identification and medication errors. The Joint Commission will share information about the solutions with its more than 16,000 accredited healthcare organisations nationwide to prevent bad outcomes that touch thousands of Americans each year.
The Center is being supported by Ecolab, GE Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson, BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co), the American Hospital Association, as well as the support of the Federation of American Hospitals and Hospira.
www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org
