Reducing Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs)
Posted on Mon, Oct 10, 2011
In a 2007 study released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was reported that Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) In the United States cost the healthcare industry an estimated 28-45 billion dollars a year, and affected 1 in 20 patients. The US Department of Health and Human Services cites HAI's as the most common complication associated with hospital stays, and results in longer hospital stays, increased mortality rates, and overall poorer prognoses. The sad fact is that in the United States, HAI's are largely preventable when the potential threat is identified, and infection control procedures are implemented.
The first challenge to successful infection control is recognizing that the potential for HAI exists. Some potential for HAI's will always exist due to visitors, deliveries, employees, and the fact that with the exception of quarantined areas and OR's, hospitals aren't sealed environments. Hospitals must recognize that hand hygiene, although a common source of HAI's, is not the only way to transmit bacteria and contaminants within a hospital environment. Although rigorous training of hospital staff to address proper hand hygiene is critical to reducing HAI, it won't eliminate the potential of HAI's entirely. Other barriers and challenges exist that must be addressed to achieve the high level of infection control necessary for a hospital environment.
Secondary sources of HAI's are less commonly identified and addressed, but they can carry the same devastating consequences to patients as poor hand hygiene. Although hospital rooms and the surfaces of most equipment are frequently cleaned with disinfectant, there are areas of the room that are most likely overlooked. One such area is the television: sitting up high and out of the way, it is almost certainly a repository of germs and bacteria. Even if the exterior is wiped daily with disinfectant, the mesh speaker screen acts like the filter on a furnace, trapping airborne particles, moisture, germs and bacteria. This creates a perfect breeding ground for HAI, and up until recently, has largely gone unnoticed.
On October 4, 2011, HCI rolled out their new series of televisions specifically designed for hospital infection control, the Infection Control Series (ICS) RoomMate Digital Television. This new design reduces or eliminates all the traditional nooks and crannies of a conventional television:
- is offered in 32" and 26" sizes, features an all glass,
- unbreakable front that is impervious to bacteria and easily cleaned with hospital grade disinfectant,
- rounded corners that better resist the trapping and build-up of bacteria,
- a "whispering wall" speaker panel that eliminates the mesh speaker grills commonly found current models,
- and a capacitative touch panel for operating the unit that is designed for weakened fingers.
These TV's also have a EDU button that allows for programming an education channel tied into the hospital library on a 'video on demand" programming platform, giving the patient access to educational videos in the comfort and privacy of their hospital room. There is also a USB port for Internet connection, providing movies, music, and pictures. The ICS series television is cutting edge technology that aims to entertain with a purpose by significantly improving infection control while offering an interactive, expanded, safer viewing experience. The ICS series television will pay for itself by reducing the costs associated with hospital stays lengthened by HAI's due to contaminated environmental factors, thus reducing the healthcare industry's overall cost of HAI's.
Learn more about HCI's Infection Control Series Television.