Hand hygiene audit system for better compliance and infection prevention

Hand hygiene audit system for better compliance and infection prevention

It is well recognized that an effective hand hygiene audit system plays an important role in infection prevention and patient safety across all healthcare settings. CleanHands® is a practical way to assess hand hygiene practices, and collect and report meaningful audit data. CleanHands® helps organizations move beyond paper-based processes by providing a digital platform for collecting, managing, analyzing, and reporting hand hygiene audit data.

Why modern healthcare needs hand hygiene audits

Preventing healthcare-associated infections begins with understanding how pathogens spread whether through direct contact, indirect contact, or through the air (as highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic). Hand hygiene (alcohol based hand rub or soap and water) is the first step at breaking links in the chain of transmission. However, simply performing hand hygiene isn't enough: proper technique matters. Healthcare workers need to wash or rub for approximately 20 seconds, thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing palms, fingers, thumbs, and nails. Furthermore, wearing gloves does not eliminate the need for proper hand hygiene.

A comprehensive hand hygiene audit helps healthcare organizations measure compliance, identify opportunities for staff education, and strengthen infection prevention efforts. Beyond the standard moments, auditors can also record key contributing factors to possible hand hygiene failures such as rings, watches, bracelets, long or artificial nails, and improper glove usage can also be audited.                         

How CleanHands® audit works

CleanHands® simplifies the direct-observation hand hygiene audit process into five straightforward steps:

1. Observe: Healthcare auditors conduct direct observations of hand hygiene practices based on the WHO Five Moments for Hand Hygiene (software is customizable for 4 or 5 Moments).
2. Capture: Auditors record hand hygiene observations digitally using mobile or web-based forms, replacing paper-based audit processes.
3. Analyze: CleanHands® organizes and analyzes collected audit data to help healthcare organizations measure hand hygiene compliance and identify areas for improvement.
4. Report: Audit results are presented through dashboards and reports, giving healthcare teams a clear view of their hand hygiene audit results and compliance trends.
5. Improve: Organizations can use audit findings to support staff education, feedback, infection prevention, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives.

• Multiple data collection and entry streams to accommodate your team's workflow
• Simplifies consolidated reporting for facilities that require different data capture tools
• An easy-to-use dashboard that allows you to view results at a glance
• Drill through reports for a quick snapshot and to track trends in performance
• Identifies problem areas to help reduce infections and related costs
• Automated reporting, analysis and MoH reporting at the click of a button
• Time saving, so you can free up precious resources for higher-value tasks
• A web based analysis and reporting portal compatible with a range of digital tools
• Easy exporting of data for further analysis
• Support for four or five moments of hand hygiene
• Immediate results for instant feedback