The Joint Commission will issue citations to ambulatory care organizations whose employees violate hand hygiene guidelines before providing direct patient care. Here are seven things to know:
1. The Joint Commission has required healthcare organizations to maintain hand hygiene programs for a decade.
2. ASC surveyors will begin issuing "Requirement for Improvement" citations this year if they see employees skipping steps in their procedures.
3. Ambulatory care organization employees must also comply with hand hygiene guidelines from the CDC and WHO.
4. On average, healthcare providers wash their hands less than half as often as they should, the CDC estimates.
5. Healthcare providers may need to wash their hands more than 100 times per shift, depending on the volume of patients, as maintaining hand hygiene before and after contact with each patient reduces the risk of spreading infection.
6. Accredited organizations can access the Hand Hygiene Targeted Solutions tool, which tracks hand hygiene compliance. It is available as an app on Apple and Google Play.
7. Organizations may also track compliance on paper.