Chapel Hill, N.C. – A hand hygiene campaign produced by Jennings, the North Carolina-based branding and advertising agency, is featured this month in Healthcare Marketing Advisor – a national publication for healthcare professionals. The article, titled “Campaigns That Aren’t Washed Up,” profiles the patient safety/hand washing program that Jennings developed for Tufts Medical Center in Boston. The New England Society for Healthcare Communications (NESHCo) is also featuring the campaign in its February publication. The article, titled “Best Practices in Hand Hygiene Compliance,”
Tufts Medical Center’s hand hygiene program has been extraordinarily successful. In January 2008, Tufts’ hand hygiene compliance rate was 71%. The obvious risks to patient safety, along with an impending visit by the Joint Commission, led Tufts to develop a comprehensive hand hygiene program that was launched in March 2008. By the end of the campaign’s first month, Tufts’ compliance had increased to 90%. By August 2008, the compliance rate had improved to 99% with 7 units scoring a perfect 100%. During the Joint Commission’s intensive 5-day visit to Tufts in September 2008, they did not find a single hand hygiene violation.
Why is hand hygiene compliance important? By most accounts, approximately 1.7 million patients will develop a hospital-acquired infection this year. An estimated 90,000 patients will die of infection they acquire while hospitalized. Beyond the cost in human life, the average patient infection costs the hospital somewhere between $25,000 and $100,000 (estimates vary greatly). And the majority of these infections are preventable.
About Jennings
Jennings, founded in 1979, specializes in advertising, public relations and brand development for businesses in healthcare, transportation, financial, telecom, real estate and the arts. Using both consumer anthropology and healthy skepticism, Jennings finds the relevant, relatable connection between a person and a product. For more, see http://www.jenningsco.com.
Jennings’ healthcare division produces marketing and advertising for hospitals, academic medical centers, pharmaceutical firms, device manufacturers, and biotech companies. Its work on behalf of healthcare clients has been featured in a number of industry publications including Healthcare Marketing Report, Healthcare Advertising Review, Marketing Health Services and Marketing Healthcare Today. Jennings' hand hygiene campaign can be found online at http://www.SpeakUpWashUp.com
