Anyone who has ever worked in the healthcare industry knows that one of the greatest challenges that hospitals face is the threat that their patients may develop a hospital-acquired infection (HAI).  These infections cost hospitals, patients, insurance companies, & taxpayers billions of dollars every year, but more importantly, some patients their life.

This problem has recently gained the attention of the US Congress, who in an attempt to balance the federal budget and make healthcare more transparent, have made changes on how hospitals report and are reimbursed for HAI.  The changes that will affect hospitals can be viewed at http://waysandmeans.house.gov ,or by selecting the related articles tab on the website (Deficit Reduction Act 12-21-05)

Highlights of the deficit reduction reforms are: beginning in Fiscal Year-2007 hospitals will be required to report the type and number of infections in their facilities.  This information will then be available to consumers so that they may make an informed decision about where they will to receive their healthcare services. Also, beginning in October 2008, the federal government will no longer reimburse hospitals when they fail to follow the best evidenced-based guidelines for preventing HAI. These reforms could easily cost hospitals thousands of dollars in un-reimbursed expenses, which some hospitals may not be able to afford.  Consequently, hospitals will need to put systems and products in place that will compliment their established safety control practices.  To that end, hospitals should be searching for a simple, cost-effective products and systems, which can help, protect their patients, and themselves, from costly infections.

Is your facility doing everything that it can to ensure your patients are safe from HAI's?

While your answer may be yes, here is some food for thought: One potential source of infection, which has likely been overlooked or deemed to have a low-probability of transmitting disease is the nurse call pillow speaker, pillow remote, or call button which is located at the bedside of each patient.  This device is usually touched and located next to the sickest people in the U.S. Thus allowing easy transmition of HAI's between patients.  A recent study in the AJIC, April 2005, Microbial Contamination of Hospital Bed Handsets , investigated the potential these devices have for harboring potential organisms. The results, to say the least, were staggering.  Almost 90% of these units contained organisms, which could cause infections,  which might lead to disease! Why do these units contain such a high level of contaminations?  Simply put, these units are exposed to many different factors including people and body fluids. These units have small cracks and crevices, which cannot be effectively cleaned or disinfected. Most of the time unfortunately, these units just get "wiped down" and hung back on the wall between patients.  Many times the same cleaning cloth will be used on multiple devices, and when used room to room, can serve as a vehicle for transmitting organisms from one unit to another.

So what can your facility do to protect your patients from this potential source of cross-contamination? According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) they recommend the use of a barrier device on all hard to clean surfaces and devices. This information may be viewed on the CDC tab on this website. The CTD Shield is a simple, easy, and cost-effective solution, which can be added to an existing infection control program. The CTD Shield is a single-patient use disposable cover to assist in the prevention of spreading HAI's between patients via the hand held device.

The CTD Shield is constructed of a high-density polyurethane allowing audio to pass through the shield with out hampering the audio quality.  Once in place, it can aid in the overall protection of patients and costly equipment for less than $1.00 per patient stay. There are several choices of CTD Shields to fit over most hand-held nurse call devices to produce a protective barrier against bodily fluids, chemicals and other potentially hazardous contaminates.  Normal housekeeping procedures cannot easily remove these contaminates due to the many cracks, holes, and crevasses found in most of the hand-held devices.

MedXshield, the distributor of the Biotronix CTD Shield Products, stands ready to help your healthcare facility with products that will compliment an on going infection control program.