Hand hygiene compliance monitoring

• US 8,502,680 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2009
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tokhtuev, Eugene, Owen, Christopher J., Schilling, Paul S., Skirda, Anatoly, Slobodyan, Viktor, Erickson, Joseph P., Littau, Cheryl A., Buck, Christopher A.
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNNINGS, TRAVIS R
• Application Number:
  US12/787,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20100315243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,169 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/245 Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A system and associated processes monitor hand hygiene compliance. The system includes hand hygiene product dispensers positioned within areas of concern (AOC) in a facility in which hand hygiene events are to be monitored. The dispensers detect dispense events initiated at the dispenser and transmit a dispense event signal indicative that a dispense event occurred along with dispenser identification information. The system also includes a plurality of compliance badges, each worn by a different person in the facility. Each compliance badge receives dispense event signals corresponding dispenser identification information associated with dispense events initiated by the wearer of the compliance badge. The badges store dispense event records associated with each dispense event initiated by the wearer and thus keep track of all dispense events initiated by the wearer of the compliance badge. One or more data gathering stations positioned at various locations through the facility receive the dispense event information from the individual badges when they come within range. The dispense event information may then be transferred to a local or remote computer for analysis and reporting on hand hygiene events taking place within the facility.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more uniquely identified hand hygiene product dispensers, each associated with an area of concern (AOC) within a facility, that detects a dispense event and transmits a corresponding dispense event signal and dispenser identification information; and

one or more uniquely identified compliance badges, each of that receives the dispense event signal and the dispenser identification information and stores the dispenser identification information in a dispense event record that is associated with the detected dispense event.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the dispenser increments a dispense event counter upon detection of a dispense event.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the compliance badge stores a time and date stamp indicative of a time at which the dispense event occurred in the associated dispense event record.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the dispenser further includes a low frequency transmitter that transmits a low frequency wake-up signal upon detection of a dispense event.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the at least one compliance badge comprises a low frequency receiver that receives the low frequency wake-up signal and, upon receipt, activates a radio frequency transceiver.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more data gathering stations associated with the facility, each of which receives one or more of the dispense event records the one or more compliance badges.

7. The system of claim 6 further comprising a computing device that receives the dispense event records directly or indirectly from the one or more data gathering stations and analyzes the dispense event records to monitor hand hygiene events in the facility.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the computing device generates reports concerning the hand hygiene events in the facility.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the dispenser counts two or more successive dispense events as a single dispense event when the two or more successive dispense events satisfy a debounce condition.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein a local or a remote computer counts two or more successive dispense events as a single dispense event when the two or more successive dispense events satisfy a debounce condition.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the dispenser further transmits dispenser status information, wherein the dispenser status information includes one or more of a battery status, a fault conditions, a time of last status data, a data gauge level, a total number of dispense events, and a total number of badged dispense events.

12. A system comprising:

at least one hand hygiene product dispenser, positioned within an area of concern (AOC) in a facility in which hand hygiene events are to be monitored, that senses a dispense event initiated by a wearer of a compliance badge and transmits dispenser data concerning the dispense event; and

a plurality of compliance badges, each having uniquely associated badge identification information and each of which is worn by a different one of a plurality of wearers, wherein each compliance badge receives the dispenser data associated with dispense events initiated by the wearer of the compliance badge, and stores dispense event records associated with each dispense event initiated by the wearer.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein each dispenser increments a dispense event counter upon detection of a dispense event.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the compliance badge stores a time and date stamp indicative of a time at which the dispense event occurred.

15. The system of claim 12 further comprising one or more data gathering stations associated with the facility, each of which receives one or more of the dispense event records the one or more compliance badges.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising a computing device that receives the dispense event records directly or indirectly from the one or more data gathering stations and analyzes the dispense event records to monitor hand hygiene events in the facility.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the computing device generates reports concerning the hand hygiene events in the facility.

18. A system comprising:

at least one hand hygiene product dispenser, positioned within an area of concern (AOC) in a facility in which hand hygiene events are to be monitored, that senses a dispense event and transmits a dispense event signal indicative that a dispense event occurred and that transmits dispenser identification information; and

a compliance badge that receives the dispense event signal and the dispenser identification information associated with dispense events initiated by a wearer of the compliance badge, and stores dispense event records associated with each dispense event initiated by the wearer.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising a plurality of compliance badges, each worn by a different one of a plurality of wearers.

20. The system of claim 19 further comprising:

one or more data gathering stations associated with the facility, each of which receives one or more of the dispense event records from at least one of the plurality of compliance badges; and

a computing device that receives the dispense event records directly or indirectly from the one or more data gathering stations and analyzes the dispense event records to monitor hand hygiene events in the facility.