DebMed Selected By Three Leading Healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations To Demonstrate Innovative Patient Safety Solution

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DebMed®, creator of the world's first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, today announced it will be presenting at the Amerinet Niche/New Technology/Diversity Show, the Novation Innovative Technology Expo, and MedAssets Business and Technology Forum.  DebMed will be showcasing the DebMed^® GMS™ (Group Monitoring System), designed to help hospital quality leaders lead the change in best practices by moving beyond manual observation to automated hand hygiene compliance monitoring. 

Improving hand hygiene is a key component of reducing infections as part of an overall patient safety and quality program. The DebMed GMS is an electronic monitoring system that provides a more accurate, cost-effective and reliable way to measure healthcare workers' hand hygiene compliance than direct observation, a common though unreliable practice that is still used. In addition, the DebMed GMS system that provides real time data and includes an online toolkit with materials designed to help change behavior and improve hand hygiene compliance.

"Invitations from Amerinet, Novation and MedAssets, three of healthcare's leading GPOs, is a testament to the strength and innovation of the DebMed^® GMS™ technology and to DebMed's leadership in patient safety," said Heather McLarney, Vice President of Marketing, DebMed. "By providing a system that electronically monitors hand hygiene based on the WHO's Five Moments, we will enable healthcare providers to improve patient safety, reduce the number of unnecessary healthcare-associated infections, and ultimately reduce overall costs."

The details of the three invitation-only Group Purchasing Organization conferences are as follows:

• Amerinet Niche/New Technology/Diversity Show – October 2, 2012, Harrah's St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo.

The show is designed to introduce suppliers to key Amerinet staff in order to explore potential partnerships that bring members improved quality of patient care, reduced costs, and enhanced revenue opportunities.

• Novation Innovative Technology Expo – Oct 3, 2012, Omni Mandalay, Las Colinas, Texas

The goal of the Novation Innovative Technology program is to ensure that members have access to innovative health care technology and that suppliers have an opportunity to be considered for a Novation contract for their innovative products.

• MedAssets Technology and Innovation Forum – October 9, 2012, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas

The Technology & Innovation Forum is part of MedAssets ongoing commitment to offer cost containment and performance improvement solutions to its healthcare organization clients struggling more than ever with the dual challenges of rising costs and lower reimbursements. 

Healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), such as Amerinet, Novation and MedAssets, assist in promoting quality healthcare and support providers in effectively managing expenses.  Through their sponsored events, these GPOs invite specific vendors to be part of their network and ultimately, to become preferred vendors. The main objective of these GPO conferences is to foster innovation and help customers improve their clinical and financial performance, supported by the introduction to leading healthcare solutions, such as the DebMed GMS.

About DebMed®   
DebMed is the healthcare program of the Deb Group. The DebMed program offers innovative hand hygiene products, electronic monitoring technology, and improvement tools to support hand hygiene compliance.  The DebMed® GMS™ (Group Monitoring System) is the world's first group monitoring system to report hand hygiene compliance rates in real-time based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" and to date has recorded more than 16 million hand hygiene events.  The electronic monitoring system is being utilized in a four year, multi-site research project being conducted by the Columbia University School of Nursing and funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). It is the first study aimed at reducing healthcare-associated infections in pediatric long-term care facilities by improving staff compliance with hand hygiene guidelines. For more information on the study or DebMed, visit www.debmed.com.

About Deb Group   
Possessing international scale and strong local market presence, Deb Group provides innovative skin care programs for all types of workplace and public environments, spanning industrial, commercial, healthcare and food sectors.  Headquartered in the United Kingdom with US operations based in Charlotte, NC, Deb Group is comprised of 21 companies operating in 16 countries.  For more information, visit www.debgroup.com.

SOURCE DebMed