Public Reporting of Hospital Hand Hygiene Compliance—Helpful or Harmful?
- Matthew P. Muller, MD, PhD;
- Allan S. Detsky, MD, PhD
- Author Affiliations: Departments of Medicine (Drs Muller and Detsky) and Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Dr Detsky), University of Toronto; Department of Medicine, St Michael's Hospital (Dr Muller), Mount Sinai Hospital, and University Health Nework (Dr Detsky), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CROSS INFECTION
- HANDWASHING
- HOSPITALS
- HYGIENE
- INFECTION CONTROL
- PATIENT SAFETY
- PERSONNEL, HOSPITAL
- QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE
- TASK PERFORMANCE AND ANALYSIS
Public reporting of hospital performance has been proposed as a means of improving quality of care while ensuring both transparency and accountability.1 Organizations feel pressure to perform well, deriving from their desire to protect market share and defend reputations. This pressure, if effectively harnessed, can lead to an increase in quality improvement activities and better patient outcomes, although the evidence supporting the latter claim is mixed.1
In 2002, it was estimated that approximately 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and 99 000 HAI-related deaths occurred in the United States each year.2 Hand hygiene is considered the most important strategy to prevent HAIs.3 Since 2002, an increasing number of US states have mandated public reporting of quality indicators related to HAI prevention; to date, none have included reports of hand hygiene compliance in their mandates. This Commentary suggests the need for caution by states considering publicly reporting hand hygiene …
