Electronic reminders improve compliance with preadmission protocol

An electronic alert system is an effective tool to encourage patients to take preadmission antiseptic showers, which reduces the risk for surgical site infections (SSIs), according to a study from the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The findings are significant as SSIs account for about one-third of the $9.8 billion spent annually on hospital-acquired infections, and they are estimated to cause nearly 100,000 deaths per year, according to the study.

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin recruited 80 volunteers, who were randomized to four groups that were all instructed to shower with 4 percent chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). The system prompted two of the groups to shower via email, text or phone call—one twice and the other three times—while the other two groups received no electronic reminders.

Skin-surface concentrations of CHG were analyzed using colorimetric assay at five separate anatomic sites. Participants were blinded to the randomization code and after final volunteer processing, the code was broken and individual groups were analyzed.

The groups that received electronic reminders had 66 percent and 67 percent higher average concentrations of antiseptic compared to their counterparts.

“However, variation in amount of unused 4% CHG suggests that rigorous standardization is required to maximize the benefits of this patient-centric interventional strategy,” according to study authors.

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