A hand hygiene compliance check system: brief communication on a system to improve hand hygiene compliance in hospitals and reduce infection

Hand hygiene compliance is the most significant, modifiable cause of hospital-acquired infections, yet national averages for compliance rates remain unsatisfactory. Noncompliance can contribute to patient mortality, extended hospital stays, higher re-admission rates, and lower reimbursement for hospitals under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although several hand sanitizing tracking systems currently exist, they pose problems of personal tracking, workflow interference, system maintenance concerns, among others. Considering these barriers, we created a prototype system that includes compliance rate tracking, real-time sanitization reminders, and a data archive for future studies.