The concern of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a well-known challenge for healthcare providers. To achieve the best outcomes, the entire care team must work together to help reduce and manage the risk of infection. Environmental services (EVS) plays an important role in this effort; fortunately, today there are a number of technologies that can help hospitals, ASCs and other healthcare facilities become more efficient in controlling and preventing infections.
What should healthcare professionals know about the important of cleaning validation in the healthcare setting, specifically the operating room?
Hudson Garrett Jr., MD, director of clinical affairs, PDI Healthcare: New technologies such as Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) monitoring are now readily available to assist users with monitoring the impact of the environmental cleaning and disinfection program within their facility. ATP monitoring evaluates the levels of ATP on the environmental surface pre- and post-treatment with a germicide to measure efficacy using a hand-held meter which produces a numerical reading. Monitoring is a critical component of any comprehensive environmental hygiene program.
Wilton Moran , project engineer, Copper Development Association: Cleanliness is not something that can be measured visually. Studies have demonstrated that even after terminal cleaning is performed, surfaces which may appear to be clean can harbor pathogens such as MRSA and VRE. However, measuring the cleaning process and its impact on the environment costs money. Surfaces that can provide continuous antimicrobial efficacy should be considered, especially if the surface is frequently touched and can serve as a source for cross-contamination.
Mark Stibich, PhD, chief scientific officer at Xenex Healthcare Services: Healthcare facilities are turning to automated room disinfection technologies because it’s been proven that traditional cleaning methods and better hand hygiene are not enough to combat HAIs – which has fostered the birth of the automated room disinfection industry. It’s now practical and affordable to use automated room disinfection systems throughout a hospital, resulting in a safer environment for patients.
Jim Topper, director of marketing, Neogen: The first thing they should know is that monitoring is possible,
easy and something they should be doing. There’s no longer any question that environmental pathogens live on and are spread through contact with surfaces. The likelihood of cross-contamination is greatly reduced when the soil, which houses pathogens, is removed. The second thing they should know is that there’s some work involved once we implement a cleaning verification and tracking program. There will be some improvements that come from the fact that our cleaning staff knows they are being monitored. But to really get the benefit from a cleaning verification and tracking system, they have to sit down with the data they collect and figure out what’s working and what’s not – and make the appropriate changes.
Gary Polyoka, director of business development, Chemspec: The CDC recently released its Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings and under the topic of environmental cleaning it states that “Cleaning procedures can be periodically monitored or assessed to ensure that they are consistently and correctly performed." The use of ATP meters to measure the organic matter left behind after cleaning and disinfection is a new way to measure and assess EVS performance.
David Skelton, marketing manager, Lumalier: Studies show that ‘traditional’ cleaning techniques do not achieve targeted levels of environmental disinfection. In fact, up to 50 percent of environmental surfaces culture positive after terminal cleaning—even in OR suites. Many products make claims, but fail to provide independent third party data to verify these claims. Automated technology is available with third party published data that validate claims—with repeatable results—and that meet or exceed targeted disinfection rates are on the market. Be sure that disinfection technology claims are based on certainty, not on estimates or general calculations.
Linda Homan, BSN, CIC, senior manager, clinical and professional services, Ecolab Healthcare: Measuring cleanliness in a consistent objective manner is critical to improving environmental hygiene. The very nature of an operating room makes it an environment where the presence of any pathogens increases the risk for infection. Many pathogens can survive for extended periods of time on surfaces, which is why cleaning validation in the operating room is so important.
