TriStar Southern Hills Leads the Way Only Hospital in Nashville to Offer Revolutionary Hand Hygiene System
July 20, 2012
Nashville, Tenn. July 20, 2012 – TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center is raising the bar for patient and caregiver safety by implementing a system that works to improve hand hygiene, which is widely accepted as the most effective means of reducing healthcare-associated infections. “We have invested in the Proventix nGage system, a state-of-the-art quality compliance system that drastically improves hand hygiene by our staff,” said Thomas Ozburn, chief executive officer of the hospital. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and The Joint Commission all point to effective hand hygiene as the single most important way to reduce infection risk.
The system uses “smart badges” assigned to and worn by individual healthcare staff. The tag triggers the system upon entering a patient’s room where a cleansing event is expected to occur. The system measures the number of times a specific wearer of the tag cleanses, but also knows how many opportunities there were to cleanse. The unit relays information about each individual through a wireless bridge for reporting.
The system went live at TriStar Southern Hills in May of 2012. By the end of June 2012, the number of hand hygiene events had increased by 33 percent. A seven month old pilot installation at Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama showed a 22 percent decrease in healthcare acquired infections.
The Proventix nGage system uses active communication units and radio frequency badges tied to a data and quality compliance monitoring system. “We are able to tell when and how each employee wash their hands,” said Paulette Cole, director of quality for TriStar Southern Hills. “Until now, the key barrier to improving hand hygiene practices and compliance rates has been the inability to track and measure compliance. Many hospitals think and report they are compliant upwards of 80 to 90 percent of the time. This system reveals that the number more accurately averages around 30 percent across a majority of hospitals.” With this system, staff will be able to see where they stand in accordance with compliance, and they can use the system to monitor and track their individual progress. “By reaching a higher level of compliance, we can further increase safety for our patients,” said Cole.
“This system is part of a bigger vision that goes beyond hand hygiene,” said Ozburn. “We have an opportunity to improve the delivery of care through collaboration among healthcare workers.” Unwashed hands are a leading source of transmitted infection and this system is far more proactive than passive reminder systems. “At TriStar Southern Hills, we are committed to finding solutions that are at the forefront of our industry. We are very proud to be the first hospital in the Nashville area to put a such a state-of-the-art system in place for the sake of our patients’ safety.”
ABOUT TRISTAR SOUTHERN HILLS
TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center has served the communities of southern Davidson, northern Rutherford and Williamson Counties since 1979. This 132-bed, award-winning hospital has built a strong reputation for outstanding emergency, cardiology, neurology and orthopaedic services. Through continuous quality improvement programs, TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center maintains its commitment and vision to be the center of excellence for community-based healthcare. Home of the region’s first telestroke network, Southern Hills is able to provide state of the art care to its stroke patients, saving valuable time. For more information visit southernhills.com.
ABOUT TRISTAR HEALTH
TriStar Health is the region’s largest, most comprehensive healthcare provider with 18 hospitals and 10 ambulatory surgery centers in Tennessee, South Central Kentucky and Northern Georgia. As a system, our hospitals are supported by approximately 5,300 physicians and nearly 13,000 employees. TriStar Health facilities feature state-of-the-art technology and pioneer new medical procedures every day to accommodate the needs of the more than 110,000 patient admissions and nearly 515,000 Emergency Department visits annually. For more information about TriStar Health, or for a physician referral, call TriStar MedLineSM at 615-342-1919 or toll-free outside of Nashville at 1-800-242-5662 or visit TriStarHealth.com.
