Accrediting bodies and CMS are ramping up environmental requirements for healthcare facilities in an effort to reduce infection rates, according to PharmaWatch, a healthcare monitoring solutions provider.
Four best practices for maintaining safe environmental conditions:
1. Continuously monitor temperature, humidity and differential pressure. Humidity should fall between 30 percent and 60 percent, which has been identified as the optimal range
2. Use sensors certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Automatically record humidity levels every five minutes or so by placing sensors in each room.
3. Tune the HVAC system to meet requirements. Work with your HVAC supplier to make adjustments to the system.
4. Take action. If parameters stray from requirements, take steps to resolve the issue and log improvements.
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