Hospital Acquired Infections, also know as Hospital borne, or nosocomial infections, are defined as infections that occur as a result of health care interventions in any health care setting where care is delivered. They are a first line item of public health and safety.

HAIs attack the sick and the elderly in particular, but are widespread across North America, and all over the world. In the United States, HAIs injure 2,000,000 people and kill 100,000  every year. These infections are avoidable.

While there seems to be a great focus on fighting HAIs, the actions required to tackle them seem fairly simple, obvious and straight forward, yet compliance remains alarmingly low.

• Hands must be washed properly

• Environmental cleaning must be regarded a priority for both point of care and equipment management

• Surveillance measures must be set in place to isolate infections and avoid the spread of bacteria

• Staff must be educated and trained to be proactive and adhere to best practices and to regulatory obligations.

Notwithstanding all the research, and tangible data, compliance in the above mentioned areas remains unacceptably low. Something must be done to give infection control teams and healthcare in general access to simple and cost-effective new tools to track and manage key behaviors responsible for the spread of bacteria.