Healthcare-Associated Infections, commonly referred to as HAIs, pose a relentless challenge for health systems nationwide. They demand constant vigilance, attention to detail, and the best available preventive measures. Fortunately, the tide may be turning in this ongoing battle, owing partly to innovative approaches in sanitation regimes by Crothall Healthcare. Their collaborative efforts with various product manufacturers and hospitals nationwide have led to inventive improvements to standard cleaning protocols, showing remarkable promises in HAI reduction, simultaneously enhancing patients’ perception of cleanliness. For several years, Crothall Healthcare has utilized Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light in contact isolation rooms as a preventive measure against HAIs. Recently, they extended its usage to a broader range of care areas, yielding positive results.
Over the last 12 months, a hospital in New Jersey noticed its HAI rates drop significantly below national targets when UV-C usage was expanded outside isolated areas to include operations units, labor and delivery wings, endoscopy departments, and pediatric emergency rooms. The EVS team supplements standard discharge cleaning procedures with two extra four-minute cycles of UV-C, especially targeting high-contact surfaces that might evade manual cleaning. This broader application of the UV-C model led to a surge in its usage from about 1,000 cycles a month to approximately 5,900, accounting for an impressive number of over 14,600 treated rooms.
Outcomes during the evaluation period were promising – with an 82% drop in the Standardized Infection Ratio compared to the National Healthcare Safety Network targets, zero findings concerning surgical site, central line-associated bloodstream infections, C. diff, and a stellar 96-99% post-cleaning pass rate with ATP monitoring. Notably, patients also discerned a difference in service quality. The HCAHPS Top Box room cleanliness scores rose from 70.69 in Q3 2023 to 83.33 in Q4 2024, and All Press Ganey database rankings leaped from the 41st to the 87th percentile.
These outcomes mirror Crothall’s commitment to innovation and application of evidence-based cleaning practices to combat HAIs, harnessing UV-C disinfection technologies as a supplement to manual terminal cleaning. This method effectively inactivates pathogens like C. difficile and MRSA by damaging their DNA. The technique is particularly valuable in reaching surfaces that manual cleaning may miss, and its effectiveness is confirmed using ATP monitoring. Continuous personnel training, data-driven decision making, and proactive approaches exemplify Crothall’s strategic measures to keep infection at bay — all underpinned by their technology platform providing real-time data to hospital leaders.
Given the alarming fact that one in 31 hospital patients has an HAI, according to the Centers for Disease Control, we need a paradigm shift in our preventive measures. Crothall’s results substantiate the promise of integrating UV-C technology into manual cleaning processes to bridge disinfection gaps, boost patient safety, and bolster staff confidence. The escalating willing utilization of UV-C—coupled with ATP validation and descending infection trends—showcases its potential as an efficient, scalable strategy across hospitals nationwide.