Posted in: Triangle Times Today
Volume 3 | Issue 12 | December 2024
AAAHC Adds Hand Hygiene to 2025 Benchmarking Offerings
AAAHC is pleased to announce the inclusion of the Hand Hygiene Benchmarking Study to the 2025 subscription offerings. We all know that clean hands save lives, yet hand hygiene compliance rates for health care workers vary by profession, by encounter, and by setting. Evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that compliance around the world is suboptimal.
Benchmarking is a valuable tool that helps organizations measure their performance against like
organizations to pinpoint areas where they excel and where they need improvement. Benchmarking also helps set realistic and achievable goals, promote a culture of continuous improvement, and, in the case of enhancing hand hygiene practices, improve patient outcomes and save lives.
The goal of the AAAHC Hand Hygiene Benchmarking Study is to assist organizations, through structured observation, evaluate their compliance to several hand hygiene opportunities during a patient encounter. Using the WHO 5 Moments of Hand Hygiene and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) glove donning and doffing recommendations, study participants collect staff observation data. Adherence to each encounter is displayed in aggregate, per staff category (e.g., doctor, allied health professional, nurse) and by hand hygiene encounter (e.g., before touching a patient, after touching patient surroundings).
Hand hygiene and AAAHC Standards
Effective hand hygiene reduces the risk of infections, protects patients and health care personnel, and plays an essential role in maintaining standards within all health care environments. AAAHC Infection Prevention and Control Standards call for a written program, including education and active surveillance consistent with WHO, CDC, or other nationally recognized guidelines for hand hygiene. As well, AAAHC Standards require a policy outlining the use of appropriate hand hygiene products according to manufacturer’s instructions for use. For Medicare Deemed Status organizations, additional Standards assess compliance with the Medicare 42 CFR §416.51 Conditions for Coverage – Infection control as part of the CMS Infection Control Surveyor Worksheet, Exhibit 351of the Medicare State Operations Manual.
The Hand Hygiene Benchmarking Study can be used to aid an organization’s ongoing surveillance activities or to obtain baseline and ongoing data on hand hygiene adherence. AAAHC will provide additional resources within the report on how to use the benchmarking data for quality improvement purposes, including additional references to advance an organization’s hand hygiene efforts.
Participation and data submission is easy. Pre-registration is now open for the 2025 Benchmarking Subscription. Please click here for further information.
Conferences & Exhibits
- West Valley MCCD Health Services California Student Health Services Conference (CaSHS)
January 31–February 1, Saratoga, CA - Progressive Surgical Solutions
5th Annual ASC Nurse Leadership Conference
April 3–4, Dallas, TX - Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)
Leadership Summit 2025
April 5–8, Boston MA - American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 50th Annual ASCRS and ASOA Meeting
April 25–26, Los Angeles, CA
1095 Learn
2025 Achieving Accreditation Onsite
March 20–21, Orlando, FL
To register, click here.