Study on the HyGreen Hand Hygiene System Shows Significant Decrease in HAIs and Healthcare Costs

Sept. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- As healthcare costs in the U.S. spiral out of control, preventative actions in patient safety are clear ways to decrease costs.  In the past, no one had quantified the value of preventative actions, such as hand hygiene, in decreasing healthcare costs.

HyGreen, Inc., a leading provider of patient safety technology, announced today the results of a study(1) presented by Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) at the 20th Annual American Hospital Association Leadership Summit held July 19-21, 2012 in San Francisco, CA on the HyGreen® Hand Hygiene Reminder System.  The study entitled “Cost Effectiveness of an Electronic Hand Hygiene Monitoring and Reminding System in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI)” reported that system costs were quickly offset by reductions in HAIs.  The importance of this study(1) is significant, as no other hand hygiene system has been able to correlate use of their product with a reduction in HAIs, prove return on investment and show a significant savings in healthcare costs.

The study(1) conducted by Miami Children’s Hospital, a 274-bed facility in Miami, Florida, looked at the cost of infections in a 26 bed bone marrow transplant unit.  Through calculating the average cost of infections and comparing infection rates seven quarters pre HyGreen® installation to infection rates five quarters post HyGreen installation, MCH was able to determine:    

1.  Hand hygiene compliance increased because of increased monitoring and reminding.
2.  The rate of HAIs decreased with increased hand hygiene compliance.
3.  Decreased HAIs resulted in decreased costs showing the cost effectiveness of EHHMRS.

In reporting on the study results, Barbara Simmonds, RN, CIC at Miami Children’s said. “Our study showed significant reductions in urinary tract infections, blood stream infections and central line infections.  In looking at all the data we’ve collected thus far, we’ve reduced healthcare costs by over $2 million dollars since the implementation of the HyGreen® system.”

“We are excited about this study and thrilled that HyGreen® has made such a significant contribution in reducing infections at Miami Children’s Hospital,” reports HyGreen Executive Vice President and General Manager, Kevin Quilty.  “Miami Children’s has proven that infection reduction not only saves lives, but it saves hospitals money. With more and more payors denying claims that include healthcare associated infections, HyGreen®, and its proven ability to reduce infections can effectively help hospitals improve their bottom line.”

For more information on HyGreen, please contact us at (877) 574-9473 or log on to our website at http://www.hygreen.com to join our October 25th webinar.  


(1) Granado-Villar, D., Simmonds, B. (2012, July). Cost Effectiveness of an Electronic Hand Hygiene Monitoring and Reminding System (EHHMRS) in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections. Poster presented at the 20th Annual American Hospital Association Leadership Summit , San Francisco, CA.