GOJO Expands PURELL SMARTLINK™ Portfolio with Individual Monitoring Solution
Innovative system helps hospitals in their fight against healthcare-associated infections
AKRON, Ohio, June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends hand hygiene should be the #1 intervention in preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), yet the average hand hygiene compliance in hospitals is still below 50 percent.1 Direct observation has been considered the gold standard in monitoring hand hygiene in healthcare settings, but as less than 1-3 percent of all hand hygiene opportunities occurring in healthcare settings are captured through direct observation,2 GOJO is committed to offering customers more robust data through electronic monitoring systems.
For more than a decade, PURELL SMARTLINK™ Solutions have enabled hospitals around the world to measure, track and improve hand hygiene performance – backed by the power of one of the most trusted brands in healthcare. Now GOJO, the inventor of PURELL® hand sanitizer and a global leader in hand hygiene solutions, has expanded the PURELL SMARTLINK™ portfolio to include the Integrated Monitoring System (IMS). Hospitals with a complete PURELL program, including monitoring technology and clinical support, have achieved an 82% improvement in hand hygiene compliance.3
Flexible Monitoring, Individual Accountability
The PURELL SMARTLINK™ Integrated Monitoring System (IMS) uses Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) technology to capture healthcare worker specific hand hygiene events in real-time. It requires no existing location tracking infrastructure, and gives hospitals the ability to easily add location capabilities like nurse call and asset tracking in the future.
The core features and benefits of IMS include:
- Wireless Technology – Battery-powered BLE technology that reduces installation complexity and overall cost, and provides flexible cloud connection options, including Wi-Fi, ethernet or on-site server to help meet IT requirements.
- Customizable Reporting – A web-based software platform that has quick, easy-to-read reports for individual, job role or group level data, and includes automated report subscription emails to deliver data directly to recipients daily, weekly or monthly.
- Actionable Data – Reliable, automated data capture to provide increased visibility into hand hygiene performance and includes individualized data for accountability and direct, one-on-one feedback and coaching.
- Clinical Support – Education and coaching of front-line staff can be tailored to each unit's culture and workflows while data management and analysis can help create and improve hand hygiene initiatives.
- Maintenance Ease – Proactive identification of low refills, low batteries, product expiration, and IMS network health to help ensure consistent product availability and device functionality.
"We implemented the IMS as part of a trial in December 2018, after receiving the critical support of our leadership, nursing, legal and IT teams," said Dr. Jeffrey Jackson, Chief Quality Officer for Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. "We almost immediately saw our numbers improve and watched them continue climbing through yellow and up to green levels. Our patients liked that they saw us monitoring our staff's hand hygiene – it made them feel safe. Our nurses liked that they were able to see data specific to their team. GOJO is a great partner and we've found so much value in the technology they provide."
"Our partnership with Dr. Jackson and the team at Sugar Land has been invaluable," said Tamara Cross, Product Management Director, PURELL SMARTLINK™ Technologies. "Through our close collaboration, GOJO has fine-tuned the IMS to deliver what hospitals need most – affordable technology, reliable data, and an improvement program that supports positive and sustainable hand hygiene behavior, ultimately keeping staff and patients safe."
PURELL SMARTLINK™ is part of The PURELL SOLUTION™, which includes a complete set of products that leverage science-based formulations and data generation capabilities to ensure hospitals are equipped with everything they need to fight the spread of infections and improve the quality of care.
PURELL® products are recognized and trusted to provide safe and effective protection against germs.4 When patients, visitors and healthcare personnel see the PURELL® brand, it reinforces high standards for patient safety and quality care.
Visit our booth #601 at this year's Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) conference for more information, or visit GOJO.com/SMARTLINK-hc or email us at [email protected]. Watch a video about the PURELL SMARTLINK™ Integrated Monitoring System at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQTCEoGBAo.
About GOJO
GOJO, the inventor of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer, is the leading global producer and marketer of skin health and hygiene solutions for away-from-home settings. The broad GOJO product portfolio includes hand cleaning, handwashing, hand sanitizing, skin care formulas and surface sprays under the GOJO®, PURELL™ and PROVON® brand names. GOJO formulations use the latest advances in the science of skin care and sustainability. GOJO is known for state-of-the-art dispensing technology, engineered with attention to design, sustainability, and functionality. GOJO programs promote healthy behaviors for hygiene, skin care and compliance in critical environments. GOJO is a family enterprise headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with operations in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Canada. Learn more about GOJO.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings: Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. MMWR 2002;51(No. RR-16):[22] https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/index.html
2 Vol. 32 No. 10 | (Boyce, John M.), Measuring Healthcare Worker Hand Hygiene Activity: Current Practices and Emerging Technologies, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE), October 2011
3 Customer Data on File – September 2016 – February 2017
4 GOJO Industries, Inc., Market Research, 015-063, 7 April 2015
SOURCE GOJO
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