Since December 2011, the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® (OHMS) has been used to successfully measure hand hygiene behaviour in medical practice. At the core of the system are disinfectant dispensers which register the number of activations and their timestamps and then send this information to a central server via WiFi. There, usage data can be evaluated with the help of specially developed software.

Currently, the system is being used in nine University hospitals in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Nether-lands, as well as in other health care facilities, helping medical staff sustainably improve hand-hygiene compli-ance. OHMS is also used in areas of intensive care, mean-ing the demands on practicality and reliability of the system are accordingly high during continuous operation.

Installation, Operation and Reliability in Daily Clinical Practice

As a rule, the mechanical installation of the ingo-man Weco® dispenser is very easy. Often it is enough to simply replace the current ingo-man® dispensers with the new ingo-man Weco® WiFi dispenser system: the backplates are identical. On the IT side, the dispenser makes only minimal demands on existing hardware. Hospitals can easily use their pre-existing WLAN infrastructure for the data transfer of the hand-hygiene monitoring system.

Our users confirm that the system is both robust and reli-able in everyday use. The new ingo-man Weco® design is based on the durable ingo-man® disinfectant dispensers that are found in most German hospitals and clinics, and considered the standard for quality dispensing systems in the medical realm. The software provides users with prac-tice-appropriate evaluation options. So you can quickly create reports and share relevant feedback with cowork-ers. Based on the monitoring results, targeted hand- hygiene training can be applied more effectively. Even the physical location of the dispenser can be optimized for the day-to-day work flow. In daily practice, the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® has proven itself to be immune to manipulation. The time and location of hand disinfections are precisely documented by the system, and the filling level of the bottle checked. This allows any anomalies to be quickly identified.

Experience through practice with the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System®

References

Practical Application

OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System®

The Hawthorne EffectDirect observation is still regarded as the “gold standard” in determining the hand-hygiene compliance. However, this method has some inherent problems: the observed persons may change their behaviour due to the presence of an observer. This may cause distortions in the data, and the significance of the observed results may be ques-tioned.

Hand hygiene monitoring systems such as the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® can complement direct observation in practice. They ensure continuous monitor-ing of hand-hygiene behaviour. This allows the strength of the Hawthorne effect during direct observation to be evaluated. The higher hand-hygiene levels reached during an observation can then be used to set a realistic goal for the ward staff. Regular feedback shows employees how successful their efforts to increase hand-hygiene compli-ance are in practice. Whether hand-hygiene continues to be performed at the correct times (or “indications”) can be demonstrated by repeated direct observation, ideally combined with hand-hygiene training.

Dr. Stefan Hagel, coordinator of the ALERTS study at the Jena University Hospital in Germany:“As part of our ALERTS study, we implemented the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System®. The system provides around-the-clock, 365-days-a-year, reliable usage data, without “observation effects”. On this basis we can determine actual hand-hygiene behaviour, and make permanent improvements to this important compo-nent of infection prevention."

Measuring Hand Hygiene Objectively - Monitoring Complements Direct Observation

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6 am to 2 pmdirect observation

The “observation effect” becomes very clear through continuously and objectively measured hygiene monitoring. The diagram shows a real-life ex-ample: The effect of direct observation on hand- hygiene behaviour over eight hours is clearly visible – it reaches values up to five-fold higher than base-line. Observing personnel was replaced every two hours. The grey lines show the average dispenser usage over the course of a day for five comparable rooms without the presence of an observer. These values were obtained over a several-week period prior to the implementation of direct observation.

This products are part of the „Hygiene Compliance Solutions“ for a sustainable improvement of hand hygiene compliance.Learn more: http://www.ophardt.com/index.php/en/hygiene-compliance-solutions.html or please scan QR-Code.

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Ophardt Hygiene-Technik GmbH + Co. KG | Lindenau 27 | 47661 Issum | Germany | Tel.: +49 (0) 28 35 18-10 | Fax +49 (0) 28 35 18-77 | customers@ophardt.com | www.ophardt.com

Practical Application

OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System®