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Sprixx News

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. --- Sprixx of Santa Barbara, CA has announced the first clinical test of a personal sanitizer dispenser with an individual electronic tracking system. The successful study was conducted at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, CA. The test was conducted on the Med Surg 4 unit with all the day shift RNs and CNAs.

The test utilized the Sprixx GJ Personal Sanitizer dispenser with the Electronic Tracking option which provides true point-of-care alcohol sanitizer access technology and individual electronic performance measurement. The GJ dispenser takes a 58 ml replacement cartridge that holds a 70% bio-based ethyl alcohol formula with soothing emollients. The unit expresses a professional alcohol dose of ¾ ml and has four attachment options for clothing including: lanyard, belt clip, pocket clip, and scrub clip.

The successful test demonstrated the ability of the system to drive positive change by frontline workers. The unit’s overall Average Hourly Episodes (AHE) improved over the nine days of testing from 2.68 the first day to 5.28 the last day; an improvement of 2.60 AHEs. The Infection Control Practitioner, Denise Bleak, RN, MSN, CIC, plans to publish the study in an appropriate peer-review publication.

The optional electronic board inside the Sprixx GJ dispenser cap is first checked-out to healthcare workers (HCWs). Every time the dispenser is pumped, a time stamp record is generated and stored in the unit for later download. The results are downloaded using a USB cable that connects a computer to the dispense caps. Software downloads the data records and organizes the results. Reports are then generated and the raw and summary data can be exported for further statistical analysis or formatting.

The Sprixx approach to the performance data is to use it to empower frontline workers to drive change. The key measure is Average Hourly Episodes (AHE) which is calculated by Total Hand Hygiene Episodes/Hours(decimal). Different positions have varied AHE goals for their shift to fit their duties and hand hygiene frequency requirements. The system generates a poster that graphs each worker’s shift AHE performance yet only identifies workers by a reference number. A handout was generated for each worker that graphs her/his AHE for each working hour of the shift. This allows workers to see their individual performance from within the context of the group and group goals. Shared purpose and group governance is then the primary force for positive change.

The Sprixx GJ Electronic Tracking option is part of the Sprixx Hand Hygiene System (SHHS), a new comprehensive package of technologies and multimodal components needed to support sustained improvements including true point-of-care alcohol dispensing, audio training, performance feedback, promotions, ongoing education, and multidiscipline organizational tools. The SHHS enters a hospital with a substantial initiative aimed at striking an overpowering blow to the status quo. The system is built and implemented using the best-practices methods of our day: the Geneva Hand Hygiene Model, IHI Improvement Process, Six Sigma principles, and the Outcome Driven Innovation Method. The system in compliant with the hand hygiene recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization Patient Safety Challenge, and the Institute for Health Promotion (IHI).

Hand hygiene in U.S. healthcare is not a little off, but is seriously broken. Experts agree that hand hygiene is the number one preventative measure against healthcare acquired infections which in the U.S. each year infect over 2 million of which 90,000 die with a cost to the U.S. healthcare system of $30 billion.

Before Sprixx, monitoring hand hygiene in healthcare settings was performed either using direct observation, wallmount counters, or inventory records. Direct observation is extremely expensive, limited, and incomplete as it requires a worker to observe and document every occurrence of hand hygiene. Observers are expensive, subject to training and perception gaps, and cannot track workers beyond the barriers of walls. Wallmounts provide an incomplete picture and fail to capture individual measures.

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital is a 217-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center, located in the heart of the Santa Clarita Valley. The facility is committed to the improvement of the health of their community through compassion and excellence in health care services.

Sprixx is a DBA of Harbor Medical, Inc., of Santa Barbara, CA. Sprixx hold an exclusive license agreement for a broad-based patent for body-worn, single-hand operated sanitizer dispensing. For more information on Sprixx, phone 866-477-7499 or email rcagle@sprixx.com.