Hospitals are ramping up their focus on hand hygiene compliance to prevent infections and improve patient safety, new data from The Leapfrog Group suggests.
In 2020, when Leapfrog began collecting and publicly reporting on hand hygiene, 11% of hospitals met the patient safety group's hand hygiene standards. By 2023, that figure had risen to 74%. This improvement comes as a growing portion of hospitals tie leaders' compensation to gains in hand washing adherence, according to the group's 2024 Hand Hygiene Report.
The percentage of hospitals using electronic systems to monitor hand hygiene is also increasing, according to the report, which is based on data from more than 2,100 hospitals. In 2020, fewer than 5% of hospitals reported using the technology; that grew to 10% by 2023.
A focus on rigorous hand hygiene has likely played a role in the progress hospitals have made in reducing healthcare-associated infections after unprecedented highs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, Leapfrog published its spring safety grades, which showed 92% of hospitals have improved their performance on at least one of three HAIs since the height of the pandemic.