DebMed® Showcases Industry's Most Comprehensive Hand Hygiene Compliance Solution Portfolio at HIMSS 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- (HIMSS booth #1483) – DebMed®, creator of the award-winning, world's first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene will bring its expansive line-up of electronic monitoring hand hygiene solutions to the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting in Orlando, February 23 – 27. DebMed will demonstrate its DebMed® GMS™ (Group Monitoring System), along with its recently introduced point-of-care dispensers and ability to monitor any brand of dispensers during the conference.

As annual healthcare spending hits $3.8 trillion, electronic hand hygiene monitoring is a cost effective investment that can help reduce readmissions, increase patient safety and decrease healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Implementing the DebMed solution in hospitals has proven to increase compliance rates and reduce infections. Currently, hand hygiene compliance in healthcare environments remains below 40 percent and without the adoption of electronic monitoring systems such as those provided by DebMed, the number will remain the same.

"There is a better way to monitor hand hygiene that results in real behavior change, while also providing the accurate, real-time data that healthcare facilities need to respond appropriately to know when and where to adjust in order to realize the patient safety and financial benefits," said Heather McLarney, vice president, marketing for DebMed. "Additionally, the DebMed GMS is the only scientifically validated way to electronically monitor to effectively achieve compliance."  

The DebMed GMS draws on an evidence-based, statistically valid algorithm which determines how many times healthcare workers should have cleaned their hands, based on patient census and degree of patient care, to derive a compliance rate.

DebMed has created the system to promote a high level of employee acceptance because it monitors compliance at the group level rather than requiring staff to wear badges that track their individual compliance. Group monitoring encourages team collaboration, and is recognized by many infection preventionists and industry thought leaders as being more effective in changing behavior than tracking individuals' actions, which can be seen by staff as punitive or an invasion of privacy. The system also includes an online toolkit of educational materials on proper hand hygiene protocols and customizable reminder tools to help healthcare facilities drive and reinforce behavior change. 

The complete suite of products that will be present at HIMSS include:

• The DebMed GMS: automatically tracks staff hand hygiene activity and provides hospitals with timely and actionable hand hygiene compliance data to help organizations create and sustain quality and safety initiatives.
• Point-of-Care Dispenser: provides easy access to hand sanitizer within the immediate patient zone. The dispenser supplements the standard wall-mounted unit, providing point-of-care accessibility that will enable healthcare facilities to more readily comply with the WHO Five Moments of Hand Hygiene.
• Product-Agnostic Monitoring: The DebMed electronic hand hygiene monitoring system is now compatible with any soap or sanitizer dispenser. This change enables hospitals and other healthcare facilities that may have a preference for one hand hygiene product over another to convert to the most reliable method of electronic hand hygiene monitoring still using the product of their choice.

Elbow Bump for Better Health
HAIs continue to affect hundreds of millions of patients each year, and hands most commonly spread them. In the U.S. alone, more than 1.7 million infections are contracted by patients, leading to more serious illness, prolonged hospital stays and higher costs to patient and their families. In addition, the first defense to flu prevention is proper hand cleaning. During HIMSS, DebMed is encouraging attendees to elbow bump rather than shaking hands. Visit DebMed's booth to see who else is participating in the #elbowbump.

For more information on DebMed, visit www.debmed.com and DebMed's HIMSS booth #1483.

About DebMed®
DebMed is the healthcare program of the Deb Group. The DebMed program offers innovative hand hygiene products, electronic monitoring technology, and improvement tools to support hand hygiene compliance.  The DebMed® GMS™ (Group Monitoring System), winner of the 2013 Frost & Sullivan Hand Hygiene Solutions New Product Innovation Award, is the world's first group monitoring system to report hand hygiene compliance rates based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" and to date has recorded more than 35 million hand hygiene events.  The system is being utilized in a four year, multi-site research project being conducted by the Columbia University School of Nursing and funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). For more information, visit www.debmed.com.

About Deb Group
Possessing international scale and strong local market presence, Deb Group provides innovative skin care programs for all types of workplace and public environments, spanning industrial, commercial, healthcare and food sectors.  Headquartered in the United Kingdom with US operations based in Charlotte, NC, Deb Group is comprised of 22 companies operating in 18 countries.  For more information, visit www.debgroup.com.

SOURCE DebMed