New employee bonus program debuts with hand hygiene as top priority

With fiscal year 2007 predicted to end with a strong financial performance, the MGH is again poised to offer employees a bonus program in appreciation of the incredible work they perform each day. This year’s program, however, will feature a change from previous years in that it will be linked directly to one of the MGH’s most crucial quality and safety standards — hand hygiene. At the MGH, hand hygiene is practiced by using Cal Stat, an alcohol-based hand disinfectant, before and after contact with the patient or patient’s environment.

Through the Hand Hygiene Quality Incentive Program, a portion of this year’s bonus will be tied to the results of the utine hand hygiene compliance measurements for September and October. Patient care units currently engaged in the hospital’s hand hygiene surveillance program will be monitored by staff from the MGH Infection Control Unit, as they have been since 2002. The compliance rates for hand hygiene both before and after contact with the patient or patient’s environment will then be calculated, with a minimum of 90 percent compliance expected for each. This 90 percent compliance rate meets the national standards set by the Joint Commission and brings the MGH closer to achieving its ultimate goal — 100 percent compliance with hand hygiene standards.

If the MGH meets its financial targets as expected, eligible employees will receive half of the bonus amount. The rest of the bonus will be paid to eligible employees if the hospital achieves success in meeting the hand hygiene compliance rate of 90 percent before and after patient contact. Currently, hospitalwide compliance rates stand at 80 percent before patient contact and 90 percent after patient contact.

By implementing this program, the MGH aims to reinforce the fact that practicing proper hand hygiene is of the utmost importance in meeting the hospital’s top priority — protecting MGH patients. Hand hygiene is the primary tool used to reduce health care-associated infections — infections patients did not have prior to admission to the hospital, which can drastically affect clinical outcomes. Hospitals across the nation face the same challenge.

While not every employee may come into contact with patients on a daily basis, meeting this standard requires the full commitment of every member of the MGH community. All staff members are encouraged to support their colleagues — both clinical and nonclinical — in practicing proper hand hygiene as the hospital strives to meet this benchmark of quality and safety. To further aid these  efforts, the MGH STOP (Stop Transmission of Pathogens) Task Force recently introduced a new hand hygiene slogan — “Be an ACE!” — that employees can use to discreetly remind one another to practice hand hygiene. ACE is an acronym that stands for “Always Cal Stat Entering and Exiting” and serves as a friendly reminder that the success of the MGH hand hygiene program truly is a team effort. 

More information about the Hand Hygiene Quality Incentive Program will be available by e-mail, MGH Hotline and additional communications. For more information about the bonus program, visit intranet.massgeneral.org/handhygiene/. For more information about hand hygiene at the MGH, call the Infection Control Unit at (617) 726-2036.