Edward-Elmhurst Health adopts SwipeSense to improve patient experience and advance high-quality performance

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Jan. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To further advance its mission and dedication to delivering a world-class patient experience, Edward-Elmhurst Health, a three-hospital system serving the west and southwest suburbs of Chicago, has selected SwipeSense as its technology partner to prevent hospital-acquired infections, efficiently track valuable hospital equipment and mitigate preventable harm, such as patient falls, by ensuring consistent care delivery.    

SwipeSense is an affordable, Real-Time Location System (RTLS) platform that powers applications, such as Hand Hygiene monitoring, Asset Tracking and Nursing Insights, designed to eliminate waste and improve patient outcomes in healthcare delivery networks. In a sample of four hospitals, SwipeSense helped reduce hospital-acquired infections by an average of 55% within the first year of implementing the technology.   

"The safety of our patients and our staff is of the utmost importance. As we continue our journey toward safety and high reliability, preventing hospital-acquired infections is a major focus. Proper hand washing is one of the easiest yet most effective evidence-based practices we can use to prevent infections," said Mary Lou Mastro, System CEO, Edward-Elmhurst Health. "SwipeSense will help us increase hand hygiene compliance, aid in the fight against hospital-acquired infections and improve our overall patient experience."

How SwipeSense Hand Hygiene works
Edward-Elmhurst Health began using the SwipeSense Hand Hygiene system in late 2019. Nearly 4,000 employees at Edward and Elmhurst Hospitals who are involved in direct patient care in patient rooms, emergency department and procedure areas wear caregiver badges that wirelessly communicate with the SwipeSense system to automatically record hand hygiene events (cleaning hands with sanitizer or soap) and opportunities (entering/exiting patient rooms), without disrupting staff workflow. 

When a caregiver cleans his/her hands, a hygiene sensor located below a soap or sanitizer dispenser recognizes the employee's unique badge identification and a green light flashes to indicate the data was transmitted. SwipeSense captures information when users enter/exit a patient room and when they clean their hands, only recording hygiene opportunities and events associated with patient room visits. The data is fed to the SwipeSense platform where managers can view hand hygiene compliance data at the facility, department, unit, room, and employee levels via an online dashboard.

Edward-Elmhurst identified significant alignment of their key executive initiatives with several elements of the SwipeSense platform, and as such, is the first health system in the Chicago area to implement the full platform. Through the power of innovative RTLS technology, all applications are powered by a combination of the same hardware, including SwipeSense Caregiver Badges, Asset Tags and Sensors. Intuitive user dashboards will enable hospital staff to capture reliable data, allowing them to effectively optimize resources and reduce care variation.

"Hospital staff are constantly juggling multiple priorities and systems. Our platform helps reduce the number of point products staff need to learn, manage, maintain and report on, providing actionable insight in a single, comprehensive solution," said Mert Iseri, CEO, SwipeSense. "From leadership to frontline staff, the team at Edward-Elmhurst has demonstrated incredible engagement and focus to ensure strong adoption and understanding of the new toolset. We are thrilled to partner with a leading, local hospital as diligently focused on delivering the highest quality care to their patients."

About Edward-Elmhurst Health
Edward-Elmhurst Health is a 736-bed system that includes three hospitals ? Edward Hospital in Naperville, Elmhurst Hospital and Linden Oaks Behavioral Health ? and an extensive ambulatory care network that provides comprehensive healthcare to residents of the west and southwest suburbs of Chicago. Edward and Elmhurst Hospitals both have achieved Magnet® Recognition, the ultimate credential for excellence in nursing, and have a history of earning A's in the bi-annual Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Elmhurst is one of only 36 hospitals in the U.S. to achieve straight A's since the Grades began in 2012. In addition, Edward-Elmhurst was named one of the nation's 15 Top Health Systems by IBM Watson Health in 2019.  For more information, visit www.EEHealth.org.

About SwipeSense
SwipeSense is a Chicago-based healthcare technology company on a mission to help hospitals deliver the most efficient and safest care possible. Armed with accurate measurement and insights via intuitive dashboards, leading hospitals across the country are using SwipeSense to improve operational efficiency and deliver a predictable patient experience. The SwipeSense platform consists of Electronic Hand Hygiene Monitoring, Real-Time Asset Tracking and Nursing Insights applications. To learn more about how your hospital can leverage SwipeSense data, visit www.swipesense.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Edward-Elmhurst Health