By Julie Thomas, BSN, RN

Patients' risk of having a healthcare-associated infection (HAI) was 16 percent lower in 2015 than in 2011, according to a study from the CDC, noting that the reduction may reflect an uptake of infection-prevention practices.

While HAIs are preventable with the right plan in place, many facilities still struggle to arm themselves with the newest, most effective set of solutions. Recent research shows that neglecting to utilize available technologies might be why some facilities are falling behind, positing that the slow adoption of electronic surveillance methods has the potential to hinder an organization’s HAI prevention efforts.

Many don’t recognize that solutions powered by Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technology can provide healthcare organizations with a complete arsenal in the battle against HAIs, and not just support asset-tracking initiatives.

Addressing hand hygiene compliance
Healthcare organizations can monitor hand hygiene compliance and noncompliance events without error using RTLS-based solutions, increasing infection control through enterprise location services. Additionally, hand hygiene compliance monitoring utilizing RTLS technology can be accomplished 24/7, creating a more effective and sustainable data collection method. This method provides analysis and reporting features; thus, facilities can focus their IP education and retraining where it is most needed.

Durability: A key feature of infection control
Waterproof RTLS tags present an opportunity for healthcare organizations to ensure proper disinfection and minimize the spread of HAIs from patient or asset to other people or materials. By integrating submersible tags into a larger RTLS solution, facilities can incorporate patient health and safety into the very operations and infrastructure of an organization.

Tags designed without seams, screw holes or crevices minimize areas where bacteria can grow and thrive. Waterproof tags are able to go through an extensive sterilization process without getting damaged, a capability that enables cost efficiency and promotes a cleaner, safer healthcare environment.

Regulating environments, managing risk
Different areas of hospitals have unique temperature and environmental requirements, and if not monitored properly, bacteria and viruses may have an opportunity to grow. RTLS-based compliance monitoring systems measure the conditions of certain environments automatically, without the need for staff to manually record. This reduces the risk of human error and protects assets around the clock that could be expensive to replace or dangerous if contaminated.

By monitoring conditions like temperature and humidity, healthcare workers can limit and reduce microbial growth, thereby decreasing the potential of HAIs.

Ensuring sterile surgical environments
During surgical procedures, it’s critical that the medical instruments required have been properly sterilized beforehand, and RTLS’ capabilities in asset and medical scope management provide physicians greater certainty that the sterilization process has been followed and the possibility of an infection through improper cleaning has been eliminated.

In addition, air quality is another exogenous factor that should be considered when performing surgery. During surgery, dust particles, textile fibers, skin cells, and respiratory aerosols loaded with viable microorganisms are released from the surgical team and the surrounding air into the operating room suite; putting patient and healthcare worker safety at risk. Certain location-based monitoring solutions can also test air quality and alert users to anything out of the ordinary, including ventilation system failure, thus ensuring that one less opportunity for infection is resolved.

Finding the cause
Contact-tracing technology lets anyone with access track nearly every movement of a patient at a moment’s notice. Using RTLS in this way can track a patient’s current location within the facility, where they have been, who they’ve come in contact with, and even what equipment has been used on them – a level of transparency that has proven to be critical to an organization’s infection-control initiatives.

In the case of an outbreak emergency, this type of solution can reduce panic and jump-start a plan of action for a facility. Understanding who the patient has been in contact with, and when, dictates the response and minimizes confusion during an unfortunate situation. Further, the data gathered from contact tracing begins at the infected person(s) and works backward to determine where the infection came from. Finding a source and containing it before it spreads can save facilities time, resources and lives.

Managing assets and medical scope
Similar to contact tracing, asset and medical scope management allows staff to track the location and usage of medical equipment. Some of this information, like which medical instrument was used on which patient, can also help to reduce the incidence of HAIs. It can track what equipment has been cleaned and which items must still be sanitized or discarded, helping to prevent contaminated equipment from ever being used on patients.

It’s important for organizations to understand all capabilities of RTLS-based technologies, as the value of a complete solution can not only help to eliminate a number of potential infection risks, but can also streamline hospital operations and increase overall patient outcomes.

About the author: Julie Thomas, BSN, RN is a clinical educator for CenTrak.