Improving hand hygiene in hospital: The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® wins "Best Practices Award 2011"
 
Newly developed complete solution to improve hand hygiene compliance live at MEDICA 2011

Issum, 11. November 2011.
The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System®, a complete hardware and software solution to measure and improve hand hygiene compliance, has been recognised with the prestigious Frost & Sullivan "Best Practices Award 2011".

In the course of an international study carried out by the market research institute Frost & Sullivan, various system solutions used to measure hand hygiene practices in medical facilities were compared.

Among other criteria, important evaluation criteria included the functionality, the sustainability and the cost-effectiveness of the systems. The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® placed significantly higher than products offered by competitors. Decisive above all was the ability to save costs by integrating with existing WiFi networks, compatibility with the widely used Eurobottle standard as well as resource saving operations ("green energy"): the energy required to send the user data from the dispenser to a central server is generated when the dispenser is pressed.
 
The system's design and the fact that it is produced by a single manufacturer also persuaded the market analysts: Development and production of the entire system solution (hardware and software) and likewise the customer service and support is provided by the manufacturer directly. Compared with similar systems, which are simply designed as "add-ons" or which combine products from different manufacturers, this can be a significant advantage.

Already successful in Germany and in Switzerland
It has been scientifically proven that hand hygiene, disinfecting the hands, is the most effective weapon against the transmission of pathogens - and therefore provides for the active prevention of infection in the fight against hospital infections. Often however in medical facilities, recommendations with regard to sustainable hand hygiene are not adequately implemented, there is too little compliance. This is where the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® comes in: It registers actual hand hygiene behaviour with the objective of sustainably improving compliance. Accordingly equipped dispensers register every time the dispenser is pressed and transmit the data to a central server. Which dispenser was pressed how often? Are there differences arising in connection with the location or the time? Where does the station, department or the entire facility stand with regard to hand hygiene compliance? The realtime and continuous data feedback makes it possible to evaluate the success of training and the achievement of hygiene objectives and to implement further measures to improve the results where necessary.

The new product solution has been received very positively in practice: The system has already been used successfully in a German hospital as well as in a university hospital in Switzerland. The next installations have already been planned; the continuing demand from various hospitals and clinics is large.
 
The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System® can be experienced live at MEDICA 2011 from 16 to 19 November 2011 in Düsseldorf: Hall 6, Stand 6K20

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