Meadows Regional Medical Center is the First in Georgia to Implement Innovative Technology from DebMed to Enhance Patient Safety

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- DebMed^®, creator of the award-winning, world's first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, announced today that it has signed a contract with Meadows Regional Medical Center, making the hospital the first in Georgia to implement a new electronic hand hygiene monitoring technology with the goal of reducing healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). 

"Our commitment is to provide the best care and safety for all of our patients, and the DebMed GMS electronic hand monitoring system will enable us to take that commitment to quality to the next level," said Meadows President & CEO, Alan Kent.  "This innovative solution improves hand hygiene compliance by using real-time data based on the World Health Organization's Five Moments for Hand Hygiene standard and tools to facilitate behavior change that will directly benefit our patients."

The DebMed GMS electronically monitors all five moments of hand hygiene as established by the WHO, which are: before patient contact, before antiseptic task, after body fluid exposure, after patient contact and after contact with patient's surroundings.  DebMed is also the only electronic monitoring system to track hand hygiene activity at the patient bedside with monitored point-of-care dispensers, increasing access to sanitizer and improving staff compliance with the WHO Five Moments guidelines.

The DebMed Program goes beyond electronic monitoring to provide supporting tools such as staff meeting facilitation guides and visual reminders to help encourage increased hand hygiene activity among staff, ultimately creating a safer environment for the patient.  During the initial implementation of the DebMed GMS system, Meadows has already seen improvement of hand hygiene compliance in the two pilot units.

"The implementation of the DebMed GMS electronic hand hygiene monitoring system is a clear demonstration of Meadows Regional Medical Center's commitment to patient safety, and we are excited to partner with such a forward-thinking organization that is focused on providing a state-of-the-art patient environment," said Heather McLarney, vice president of marketing, DebMed.

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), winner of the 2013 Frost & Sullivan Hand Hygiene Solutions New Product Innovation Award, is the world's first group monitoring system to report hand hygiene compliance rates based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" and to date has recorded more than 35 million hand hygiene events.  The 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). For more information, visit www.debmed.com.

SOURCE DebMed