A New Approach to Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance at the Navarra Clinic with MEG

At the Navarra Clinic, patient safety is a top priority. Like many healthcare facilities, hand hygiene is essential to reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)—a persistent challenge in the sector. In 2024, at the 2nd International Electronic Conference on Clinical Medicine, Blanca Rodríguez shared how the clinic began implementing MEG, a tool that is helping them measure hand hygiene adherence more effectively, a critical factor in infection prevention.

Why is Hand Hygiene So Important?

HAIs are a serious issue in any healthcare system, and in Spain, they are estimated to cause around 6,000 deaths annually. They also represent a significant cost, nearing 2 billion euros. However, according to a systematic review by Mouajou et al. (2022), suggests that up to half of these infections could be prevented with proper hand hygiene, especially during five critical moments:

1. Before touching the patient.

2. Before performing aseptic procedures.

3. After exposure to bodily fluids.

4. After touching the patient.

5. After contact with the patient’s surroundings.

5 moments for hand hygiene - WHO

Implementing MEG: A Support in Data Collection

Hand hygiene monitoring at the Navarra Clinic combines direct observation with the MEG tool, providing a comprehensive approach to data collection. With MEG, the clinic can effectively track all five hand hygiene moments and record additional details, such as the type of hygiene performed (alcohol-based solution, soap and water, or none) and the duration of handwashing, ensuring it meets the recommended time.

Transforming the Process with MEG

Before MEG: Hand hygiene monitoring was based on manual observation, which, while useful, offered limited insights due to smaller sample sizes.

After MEG: With MEG, the clinic has completely transformed its monitoring process. They can now track all five key hand hygiene moments and collect detailed data, including the type of hygiene performed (alcohol-based solution, soap and water, or none) and the duration of handwashing (more or less than 20 seconds).

Since implementing MEG, the clinic has seen a remarkable increase in the number of observations. This significant growth in both the quantity and quality of data has provided a clearer understanding of average adherence. It has also enabled the clinic to tailor hygiene protocols to address specific needs more effectively.

As a result, the clinic now benefits from a more accurate and actionable view of hand hygiene adherence, driving meaningful improvements in their practices.

Hand Hygiene Audit Form (example only)

“It has been a pleasure to share the impact that using MEG has had in improving hand hygiene adherence at CUN. You can’t improve what you don’t know, and you can’t know what you don’t measure. Tools like MEG are essential for preventive medicine.”

-Blanca Rodriguez, Nurse in Preventive Medicine at Clinica Universitaria de Navarra

Enhanced Insights

Since adopting MEG, the clinic has seen a remarkable increase in the volume and quality of observations. This larger dataset has provided a clearer understanding of adherence rates and allowed the clinic to customise hygiene protocols to address specific areas for improvement. By minimising biases and collecting more statistically reliable data, the clinic now has actionable insights to enhance patient safety.

Advantages of using an electronic tool

Using an electronic tool for hand hygiene (HH) offers several advantages. It provides immediate reports sent directly to your email, ensuring quick access to up-to-date data. The tool allows for customised reports by date, area, profession, and hygiene moment, making it easier to track and analyse HH practices. It helps identify failures and target areas for improvement. Additionally, observations aren't limited to just IPC nurses, broadening the scope of data collection. Reports are easily accessible on the intranet, and monthly reports are shared in common areas to provide valuable feedback to staff.

1. Instant Reporting: Access up-to-date data immediately via email.

2. Custom Reports: Filter information by date, area, profession, or specific moments. Identify improvement opportunities and implement targeted corrective measures

3. Use of quality management system: Implementation of a set of standardised processes, policies, and tools designed to ensure that the hospital consistently meets regulatory requirements. Helps improve efficiency, manage risks, monitor performance, and drive continuous improvement across all operations.

4. Enhances Hand Hygiene Compliance: Ensures that healthcare staff consistently follow hand hygiene protocols by providing real-time monitoring, automated reminders, and data-driven insights to improve adherence to infection control standards.

5. Intranet Access: Reports are accessible to all relevant staff members.

6. Team Feedback: Monthly summaries are shared in common areas to engage staff and promote transparency. Observations can be done by trained professionals, not just IPC nurses.

Key Takeaways

• Hand hygiene is essential to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

• Regular auditing is crucial for patient safety and effective improvement measures.

• Benefits of electronic tools:

• Enhance data collection.

• Provide immediate feedback.

• Save time for IPC teams.

• Empower more professionals to collect data.

• Offer a clearer picture of real adherence rates.

Efficient tools lead to actionable insights, fostering a culture of safety and improvement in healthcare.

Looking Ahead

While there’s still room for progress, the integration of MEG at the Navarra Clinic has already provided valuable insights to refine their hand hygiene practices. With more detailed data, the team can continue adapting protocols and training programs to meet their safety goals.

Blanca Rodríguez, Nurse in Preventive Medicine at Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, mentioned in her presentation that:

“Implementing an electronic tool like MEG can be a great alternative for those seeking a more realistic and accurate approach to infection prevention.”

Transform Your Hand Hygiene Audits with MEG

MEG's Hand hygiene audit tool has empowered different clients to efficiently gather and analyse audit data directly on any device. This streamlined process has significantly reduced the time spent on manual tasks, allowing the team to focus more on enhancing audit quality and driving impactful improvements.

👉 Contact us today to learn more!

Digitalisation and Patient Safety: A New Era

In healthcare, patient safety is a fundamental priority, and digitalisation is creating a turning point in how it is managed. Today, three key tools stand out as pillars in the identification and mitigation of adverse events: voluntary reporting, risk registers, and Global Trigger Tools (GTT).

In this blog, we explore the specificity and sensitivity of each tool, the transformative role of GTT, and how digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionising their use.

How This Benefits Hospitals and Healthcare Workers?

Implementing digital tools like Global Trigger Tools (GTT) enhanced with AI doesn’t just improve patient safety; it directly supports healthcare workers and streamlines hospital operations. These advancements empower frontline staff by reducing the administrative burden of manual reporting, allowing them to focus on what matters most: patient care. AI-powered systems detect risks in real-time, minimising human error and creating actionable insights that help healthcare teams address issues proactively.

For hospitals, this means a more resilient patient safety culture, faster responses to emerging risks, and enhanced compliance with international standards. The result? Safer environments for patients, more efficient workflows for staff, and an overall improvement in healthcare quality and outcomes. By embracing digitalisation, hospitals and healthcare workers can confidently move toward a future of smarter, safer care.

The Triad in Action: Voluntary Reporting, Risk Register, and GTT

Voluntary Reporting: A Frontline Perspective

• Specificity: Highly specific since reported events often have a direct impact on care.

• Sensitivity: Limited, as it relies on staff willingness to report, leaving some incidents undetected.

Risk Register: Mapping Potential Hazards

• Specificity: Moderate, focusing on risks identified during audits and analyses.

• Sensitivity: High for structural or systemic issues but may be less reactive to isolated events.

Global Trigger Tools: Detecting the Invisible

• Specificity and Sensitivity: Combines the best of both worlds by identifying specific "triggers" that alert to potential adverse events, even those not voluntarily reported.

Why Are GTT the Future?

GTT doesn’t rely on human memory or perception but on objective, data-driven analyses. It detects patterns, identifies areas for improvement, and provides insights that other tools might overlook.

The Technological Revolution: Digitalisation and AI Automation

Digitalising forms and incorporating AI are taking GTT to the next level:

• Smart Digital Forms: Capture data more precisely and consistently, reducing human error.

• AI in GTT: Processes large volumes of data in real-time, detecting triggers faster and more accurately. This not only accelerates the detection of adverse events but also optimises the organisational learning process.

Key Benefits:

• Earlier risk detection.

• Increased sensitivity and specificity in identifying events.

• Faster and more effective corrective actions.

Conclusion

Digitalisation is not only modernising adverse event management but also transforming how we understand and prevent risks in healthcare. Adopting tools like GTT and enhancing them with AI is a crucial step toward safer and more efficient care.

Discover how this technology improves adverse event management.

Patient Experience in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities to Ensure Safety

Healthcare is an essential part of our lives, aimed at preventing diseases, treating conditions, and improving our quality of life. However, in this noble effort to care for our health, healthcare systems can sometimes make errors that result in harm to patients. These errors not only cause physical and emotional suffering but also negatively impact people's trust in the healthcare system. In Latin America and around the world, patient safety has become a critical issue requiring urgent attention. In this blog, we will explore the current landscape of patient safety in Latin America, addressing common challenges and the solutions that organisations can implement to ensure optimal care.

Where Are We in Latin America?

Patient safety is a topic that cannot be overlooked. Harm to patients occurs even in advanced healthcare systems due to increasing complexity and the possibility of human errors. Process errors, lack of communication, and the absence of active patient involvement can be underlying factors in these issues. It is crucial to recognize that solely blaming the active provider does not address latent system errors. Instead of expecting individual perfection, it is necessary to create a safe environment with well-designed systems. This is where a shared and transparent safety culture comes into play, an essential component for preventing and improving healthcare errors.

Patient Safety: What Does It Mean?

Patient safety is not just an abstract concept but a concrete focus in healthcare. As healthcare systems become more complex, the likelihood of risks and errors associated with healthcare increases. The purpose of patient safety is simple yet fundamental: to prevent and reduce hazards, errors, and harm that patients may face during their healthcare. The foundation of this initiative is continuous learning from mistakes and adverse events to continuously improve and evolve.

Latin America: Confronting the Burden of Healthcare-Related Harm

Millions of patients in Latin America experience harm or even die due to unsafe healthcare. The situation is alarming, with examples including medication errors, healthcare-associated infections, and risky surgical procedures. Unsafe practices such as unsafe injections and misdiagnoses contribute to this burden. These problems not only jeopardize patient safety but also affect the overall quality of healthcare in the region.

The Data Speaks for itself 

• Medication errors result in an annual cost of approximately $42 billion worldwide. Healthcare-associated infections affect 7-10% of hospitalised patients. 

• Up to 25% of surgical patients experience complications, with one million surgical patients dying annually. 

• Unsafe injection practices lead to 9.2 million years of disability-adjusted life lost. 

• Diagnostic errors affect 5% of adults in outpatient care, with more than half of them potentially causing serious harm. 

• Errors in radiation and septicemia cause preventable harm and deaths.

• Venous thromboembolism is responsible for common and preventable harm.

Transformative Technology: Improving Patient Safety

In the digital age, technology plays a crucial role in healthcare improvement. Implementing patient safety and quality systems can make a difference. Through specialised software, effective audits can be conducted, and accreditations of high standards like those of the Joint Commission International (JCI) can be tracked. These systems not only monitor quality but also identify areas for improvement and prevent future incidents.

MEG: Offering Solutions

Through MEG, we present effective solutions to address common challenges in patient safety in the medical field:

1. Medication Management: We offer the Antibiotic Administration Survey to address common errors in medication administration.

2. Surgical Errors: To prevent surgical errors, responsible for 10% of preventable harm, we provide efficient access to the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist, available digitally in the context of Safe Surgery for Latin America and Spain.

3. Healthcare-Associated Infections: In response to healthcare-associated infections, accounting for 0.14% of cases, we implement measures to reduce antibiotic resistance and control infections in the medical field.

4. Sepsis: Sepsis is a critical concern, with approximately 23.6% of cases occurring in hospitals. We offer specialized audits in infection prevention and control to address this issue.

Looking to the Future

The data confirms that patient safety is a critical priority in Latin America and globally. Preventing and reducing adverse events in healthcare is possible through effective strategies and global collaboration. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that every patient receives safe and high-quality care. Through awareness, a focus on vulnerable groups, robust health policies, a safety culture, and ongoing research, we can move towards a future where patient safety is constant. The adoption of advanced technologies, such as audit and tracking software, will be crucial for continuously improving the quality and safety of care provided. Ultimately, we all play an important role in this process, from healthcare professionals to informed patients, collaborating to achieve optimal and safe care for patients.

Sources:

1. World Health Organization (WHO). Patient Safety. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/patient-safety. Accessed September 11, 2023.

2. IBEAS Study. IBEAS: A Pioneer Study on Patient Safety in Latin America: Towards Safer Hospital Care. May 4, 2011. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-IER-PSP-2010.3

5 Tips for Digital Transformation in Type IV and Type II Hospitals

The digital transformation of hospitals is essential to enhance efficiency, improve patient care, and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment. Whether it's a large Type IV hospital with more than 300 beds or a mid-sized Type II facility with 60 to 150 beds, understanding the specific needs and challenges of each hospital type is crucial for a successful transition. Here are some key tips to guide the digital transformation process for these types of hospitals.

1. Technology Selection and Risk Management

Choose technologies tailored to the hospital's size and complexity, considering both current infrastructure and future needs.

• Type IV Hospitals: A Type IV hospital, with over 300 beds and a wide range of services, should implement a comprehensive hospital management system that integrates all departments, enhancing coordination and streamlining operations across the board. This might include systems that manage patient records, inventory, scheduling, and more.

• Type II Hospitals: For a Type II hospital with 60 to 150 beds, a modular system is ideal. This allows the hospital to start with essential components, such as document management, and gradually expand as needed. This approach ensures that the hospital can scale its digital capabilities in line with its growth.

2. Risk Assessment

Conduct thorough risk assessments before implementing new technologies, tailored to the hospital's scale and type.

• Type IV Hospitals: Before rolling out a new digital system across the entire hospital, consider piloting it in a specific unit to ensure compatibility with existing systems and to avoid data loss. This step allows for any necessary adjustments before a full-scale implementation.

• Type II Hospitals: For a Type II hospital, assess the risks associated with integrating a patient management system. A pilot test in a high-traffic area, such as the emergency department, can provide valuable insights into the system’s effectiveness and highlight any potential issues.

3. Enhancing Operational Efficiency

Adopt digital solutions that streamline internal processes and boost operational efficiency, customized to the hospital's specific needs.

• Type IV Hospitals: Implement a real-time inventory management system to track and optimize the use of medical supplies and medications across various departments. For instance, integrating a pharmacy management system can significantly improve resource allocation and reduce waste.

• Type II Hospitals: Introducing a hand hygiene auditing system or an incident risk management tool can reduce administrative burdens and improve patient flow management. These systems are particularly beneficial in hospitals with moderate patient volumes, where efficiency is crucial.

4. Patient Safety and Risk Management

Leverage advanced technologies to enhance patient safety, ensuring staff are trained to follow digital safety protocols.

• Type IV Hospitals: Utilize detailed dashboards, heat maps, and issue-tracking features to identify and prioritize risks, plan interventions, and monitor progress. These tools are vital in large hospitals where managing a high volume of patients and data can be challenging.

• Type II Hospitals: A pharmacy monitoring system with automated alerts for medication administration can significantly reduce errors and enhance patient safety, especially in critical care units. These systems help maintain high safety standards even in smaller hospital settings.

5. Training and Education

Provide ongoing training for staff on new technologies and safety protocols to ensure a smooth transition.

• Type IV Hospitals: Offer comprehensive training workshops and online resources for all hospital staff on using the new hospital management system and understanding cybersecurity protocols. Continuous education is essential in large institutions to ensure that all employees are proficient with new systems.

• Type II Hospitals: Implement targeted training sessions for administrative and clinical staff on using electronic medical records (EMRs) and scheduling tools. These sessions should be practical and focused on day-to-day operations to help staff adapt quickly to the new systems.

"The tool allowed us to evaluate more processes, involve more teams, and focus more efficiently on critical points, making our efforts more effective."

-Dr. Hugo Siu, Director of Quality, Anglo Americana Clinic, Peru.

Conclusion

Digital transformation in hospitals, whether large Type IV facilities or smaller Type II institutions, requires careful planning, risk management, and ongoing education. By selecting appropriate technologies, conducting thorough risk assessments, enhancing operational efficiency, prioritising patient safety, and investing in staff training, hospitals can successfully navigate the challenges of digital transformation. This process not only improves patient outcomes but also positions hospitals to meet future healthcare demands with agility and resilience.

Enhancing Patient Safety: Insights and Solutions from an Expert in Health Quality

In an enlightening interview, a seasoned professional, Mauricio Petri, an expert in Patient Safety and Quality, shared his extensive journey through various industries, including automotive and healthcare, and his current focus on digital transformation in health. With over two decades of experience, he has made significant strides in integrating his expertise in quality management into improving patient safety and hospital management.

Insights into Patient Safety Challenges

The primary challenge facing patient care is accessibility. High accessibility without quality is akin to having low accessibility. Effective healthcare starts with accessible primary care, which lays the foundation for preventive measures and early diagnosis. However, improving accessibility alone isn't enough; quality must be maintained throughout the care process. This involves not only digital advancements but also enhancements in overall service processes.

Factors Influencing Patient Experience

Several factors affect patient care, including the time dedicated to patient interaction and the quality of communication. Studies emphasise the importance of empathy, communication, and the management of patient expectations. The gap between patient expectations and actual care can lead to dissatisfaction. Effective communication and managing expectations are crucial in providing a positive patient experience.

Explore our Patient Experience Software here!

Improving Communication and Patient Involvement

Efforts to enhance patient communication include proactive feedback systems and patient involvement in decision-making. Engaging patients in designing care processes helps align services with their needs. For instance, working with patient groups in Chile has shown the benefits of incorporating patient feedback into process design.

"High accessibility without quality is the same as having low accessibility. So, the second important point after accessibility is quality."

"The way to incorporate these tools is to create a digital space where the patient, during their care flow and journey, can quickly provide their experience in real-time."

-Mauricio Petri, Expert in Quality and Patient Safety, Business Development in Latin America & Spain at MEG

The Role of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is evolving, with a focus on electronic health records and incident reporting. However, the next step involves using digital tools to capture patient experiences in real-time. By integrating digital surveys and feedback mechanisms during care, healthcare providers can quickly address issues and improve the patient experience. This approach allows for immediate adjustments and better coordination between care teams.

Conclusion

The integration of digital tools for real-time patient feedback represents a significant advancement in improving patient safety and care quality. By addressing accessibility, communication, and leveraging technology, healthcare providers can enhance the overall patient experience. The ongoing efforts to innovate and involve patients in their care journey are crucial steps toward achieving better outcomes and safer healthcare environments.

Streamline patient safety and compliance with MEG’s LFPSE-Compliant Risk Management System.