discovering the clinical hi- res - wsha home pageresearchers have discovered that computer keyboards...

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Image: HP EliteOne 800 G5 23.8 Healthcare Edition All-in-One Business PC mounted on a Healthcare Ergotron Cart with HP Healthcare Keyboard and Mouse Discovering the Clinical and Financial Value of Sanitized Devices Contaminated IT devices at hospitals can lead to serious infectious diseases, hence healthcare organizations need equipment that can be cleaned and disinfected properly.

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Page 1: Discovering the Clinical Hi- Res - WSHA Home PageResearchers have discovered that computer keyboards contained 7,500 bacteria per swab—more than an average toilet seat.4 In addition,

Image: HP EliteOne 800 G5 23.8 Healthcare Edition All-in-One Business PCmounted on a Healthcare Ergotron Cart with HP Healthcare Keyboard and Mouse

Discoveringthe Clinical andFinancial Value ofSanitized DevicesContaminated IT devices at hospitals

can lead to serious infectious diseases,

hence healthcare organizations need

equipment that can be cleaned and

disinfected properly.

Page 2: Discovering the Clinical Hi- Res - WSHA Home PageResearchers have discovered that computer keyboards contained 7,500 bacteria per swab—more than an average toilet seat.4 In addition,

In addition, patients are more engaged with their care and understand

they have a choice when it comes to finding a hospital for their care.

Because patients can now access social media and websites that

provide information on each hospital’s mortality and infection rates,

healthcare organizations can suffer financially if they are not delivering

high quality care.

“In this age of value-based care, hospitals need to demonstrate to both

payers and consumers that they are providing great care at lower cost

and, perhaps most importantly, that they are producing the best

outcomes for patients,” said Raja Bhadury, HP, Global Lead for

Enterprise Healthcare.

When people are admitted to the hospital, they want to get better, but all

too often they wind up worse for wear. On any given day, about 1 in 31

hospitalized patients have at least one Health-Associated Infection (HAI).

Altogether, about 687,000 patients acquired infections while being treated

in acute care hospitals in the U.S. in 2015—and about 72,000 of these

patients died.1

Such statistics are certainly not acceptable from a clinical perspective. The

concern becomes even more pressing, though, as healthcare organizations

adopt value-based care models, where reimbursement is based on the

quality of care achieved, not merely the volume of services delivered. Under

these models, the financial stakes for provider organizations stretch

beyond the dollars required to treat HAIs—a total that is estimated to cost

the industry $9.78 billion for the five most common types.2 Indeed,

healthcare organizations need to consider that they will now experience

reductions in payment as well. Medicare, for example, is reducing by about

$350 million annually than what it pays to the hospitals that rank worst

among other hospitals for how often their patients get HAIs.3

Risks of nosocomial infection

Patients are more engaged with their care and understand they have a choice when it comes to finding a hospital for their care because they

can now access social media and websites that provide information on each hospital’s mortality and infection rates.

HP EliteBook 840 G5 Healthcare Edition

Page 3: Discovering the Clinical Hi- Res - WSHA Home PageResearchers have discovered that computer keyboards contained 7,500 bacteria per swab—more than an average toilet seat.4 In addition,

In addition, patients are more engaged with their care and understand

they have a choice when it comes to finding a hospital for their care.

Because patients can now access social media and websites that

provide information on each hospital’s mortality and infection rates,

healthcare organizations can suffer financially if they are not delivering

high quality care.

“In this age of value-based care, hospitals need to demonstrate to both

payers and consumers that they are providing great care at lower cost

and, perhaps most importantly, that they are producing the best

outcomes for patients,” said Raja Bhadury, HP, Global Lead for

Enterprise Healthcare.

How to reduce this risk?HP Healthcare Edition HC270cr Clinical Review Monitor, HP Healthcare Keyboard and Mouse

The challenge is to look for each and every way to reduce the risk of

nosocomial infection. And that means clinical and healthcare IT leaders

can no longer ignore the potential risk of infection from contaminated

laptops, smartphones, and other devices. Consider the following:

Researchers have discovered that computer keyboards contained 7,500

bacteria per swab—more than an average toilet seat.4 In addition, a

study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found two

or more types of microorganisms on all the computer keyboards tested

in the burn intensive care unit, cardiothoracic intensive care unit, and six

nursing units at the University of North Carolina Health Care System.5

Melinda Schmidt, RN, knows all too well that these contaminated devices

can lead to serious infectious diseases. When working in a hospital,

Schmidt continued to document patient progress on a computer after

getting a paper cut on her finger. Shortly thereafter, she contracted

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). “I waited a short

time for the surgical skin glue to be delivered but within that timeframe, I

had already been infected with MRSA. The only time I did not have gloves

on was when I was charting, and for three weeks, I had a PICC line and

received Vancomycin and Cubicin twice a day. To this day, 15 years later, I

still have to monitor my kidney functions,” she said.

Many of the computers and devices are simply not designed to be cleaned with effective agents such as bleach or quaternary ammonium formulations. Healthcare organizations need to work with equipment that can be cleaned

and disinfected properly, such as HP’s Healthcare Editions devices.

It stands to reason, then, that nurses could cross contaminate patients

when working with germ-laden computer devices. “The nurses gel their

hands as they come into patient rooms. Then they immediately log on to

the computer. So now they have clean hands, and they're logging on to

the computer that is potentially carrying all kinds of pathogens. After

that, they go directly to the bedside to talk to the patient and check lines

and such,” said Schmidt, who now serves as Clinical Specialist with HP.

The problem is that IT devices like computers, keyboards, and displays

are often left out of the cleaning and disinfection protocols applied to

environmental surfaces. Unfortunately, IT departments often

discourage—or even prohibit—the proper disinfection of computer

devices. “Many of the computers and devices are simply not designed to

be cleaned with effective agents such as bleach or quaternary

ammonium formulations,” Schmidt said. “So, clinical staff are often told

by IT not to touch their PCs and devices when doing their general

environmental wipe downs, or IT tells nurses that they can't use

anything but a cloth, or possibly alcohol wipes, on the computer

equipment. So, whatever contaminants that were on there before are

now taken directly to the patient, and that is contributing to healthcare

associated infections.”

Page 4: Discovering the Clinical Hi- Res - WSHA Home PageResearchers have discovered that computer keyboards contained 7,500 bacteria per swab—more than an average toilet seat.4 In addition,

Healthcare organizations, however, need to work with equipment that

can be cleaned and disinfected properly, such as HP’s Healthcare

Editions devices. “Cleaning means you’re removing the visible dirt and

possibly the not-so-dangerous pathogens. But the cloths and alcohol

wipes don’t really get rid of the other more deadly pathogens,” Schmidt

said. “You need to work with IT equipment that can handle the more

abrasive germicidal wipes to actually disinfect the surface and get rid of

those more dangerous pathogens.”

To ensure this happens, “…healthcare organizations need appropriate

protocols in place so that the cleaning and disinfection of IT devices

becomes an important component of environmental hygiene and

eliminates a potential source of pathogen transmission,” Bhadury

concluded. “Infection preventionists, nursing, and environmental

services staff must collaborate closely to decide who is responsible for

the routine cleaning and disinfection, and that the appropriate staff

members are trained to follow the protocols.”

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data Portal.

https://www.cdc.gov/hai/data/portal/index.html.

2. Zimlichman E, Henderson D, Tamir O, Franz C, Song P, Yamin CK,

Keohane C, Denham CR, Bates DW. “Health care–associated infections: A

meta-analysis of costs and financial impact on the US health care system.”

JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Dec 9-23; 173(22):2039-2046.

doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.9763.

3. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Hospital-Acquired Condition

(HAC) Reduction Program.

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Inst

ruments/Value-Based-Programs/HAC/Hospital-Acquired-Conditions.html.

4. Fiona Keating. “Smartphones and Computer Keyboard Have More Germs

than Toilet Seats.” International Business Times. October 8, 2013.

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/smartphones-germs-faecal-matter-pc-keyboar

ds-511734.

5. UNC Health Talk. “Computer keyboards in health-care settings should be

disinfected daily, UNC Health Care study concludes.” February 14, 2008.

https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/keyboards/.

HP EliteBook 840 G5 Healthcare Edition

References

It stands to reason, then, that nurses could cross contaminate patients

when working with germ-laden computer devices. “The nurses gel their

hands as they come into patient rooms. Then they immediately log on to

the computer. So now they have clean hands, and they're logging on to

the computer that is potentially carrying all kinds of pathogens. After

that, they go directly to the bedside to talk to the patient and check lines

and such,” said Schmidt, who now serves as Clinical Specialist with HP.

The problem is that IT devices like computers, keyboards, and displays

are often left out of the cleaning and disinfection protocols applied to

environmental surfaces. Unfortunately, IT departments often

discourage—or even prohibit—the proper disinfection of computer

devices. “Many of the computers and devices are simply not designed to

be cleaned with effective agents such as bleach or quaternary

ammonium formulations,” Schmidt said. “So, clinical staff are often told

by IT not to touch their PCs and devices when doing their general

environmental wipe downs, or IT tells nurses that they can't use

anything but a cloth, or possibly alcohol wipes, on the computer

equipment. So, whatever contaminants that were on there before are

now taken directly to the patient, and that is contributing to healthcare

associated infections.”