Hero Program: A data-driven reward system to improve hand hygiene

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Infection prevention and control
• Behavioral science in healthcare

Background:

• Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a global challenge impacting patient outcomes and healthcare costs.
• Despite awareness, healthcare worker hand hygiene (HH) compliance remains suboptimal.
• The Hero Program was developed to incentivize and sustain HH practices through positive reinforcement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Hero Program in improving hand hygiene compliance.
• To assess the sustainability of behavior change in healthcare workers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from an electronic HH prompting system over 2.5 years.
• Implemented a scoring algorithm to weigh individual HH compliance, workload, and consistency.
• Awarded daily gift card rewards to high-scoring caregivers.

Main Results:

• An 11.45% increase in HH compliance was observed within 120 days of program implementation.
• Compliance rates continued to rise, reaching 94% one year post-implementation.
• The program demonstrated early effectiveness in promoting sustained behavior change.

Conclusions:

• The Hero Program resulted in a significant and lasting positive impact on hand hygiene practices.
• Incentive-based programs can be effective in improving adherence to critical infection control measures.
• Sustained improvements indicate the potential for long-term success in reducing HAIs.