Survey Finds Collaboration Key in Preventing HAIs

Preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a top financial priority for acute and post-acute healthcare providers, according to a recent GP PRO survey.

GP PRO’s survey found that 91% of respondents believed collaboration between infection preventionists and environmental services (EVS) departments is important in lowering HAI rates. Most respondents—84%—noted that the number of such infections has somewhat or significantly increased since the onset of COVID-19.

A quarter of those surveyed viewed HAI prevention as a significant financial issue, while 39% saw investing more in HAI prevention as worthwhile. For that 39%, such further investments would include high-quality hand hygiene products, proper personal protective equipment (PPE), touchless restroom dispensers, and easily accessible hand hygiene stations for staff and visitors.

“The vast majority of healthcare providers acknowledge that HAIs continue to increase, and nearly all of our survey respondents put preventing HAIs as a top three priority, but the cost of preventing them is creating a real financial reckoning for them,” said Ashley Butler, GP PRO vice president and general pf skincare. “As a provider of hand hygiene solutions for healthcare, it is incumbent on us and other industry leaders to create a viable path forward for infection preventionists to cost-effectively address what has become, in my opinion, a healthcare crisis.”

Access the complete GP PRO survey here.