Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

19 Hand Hygiene & Preventing HAIs A n antimicrobial surface coating called SurfaceWise is effective at reducing the number of hospital surface bacteria by more than 99 percent at least eight weeks after a single application, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. "It's an invisible coating that creates a new surface…that is a hostile environ- ment for pathogens to survive," says Michael Ruley, the CEO of Allied BioSci- ence, the company that makes SurfaceWise. It can be applied to "everything," he says. "Wherever someone can put their hand, we're going to treat." That includes areas in patient rooms, waiting areas and nurses stations. SurfaceWise is applied with an electrostatic gun to a clean surface and the material binds with whatever surface it's applied to on a molecular level. Then, that surface becomes hostile for pathogens and SurfaceWise removes them from the surface. To study its scientific effectiveness, SurfaceWise was applied to 95 sites in an ICU at a major Southern California hospital and then followed for a 15-week period. Cultures were collected from patient room surfaces like bed rails, bed controls, tray tables and wall sinks, as well as nursing station and lobby areas. The staff maintained their routine daily cleaning protocols. Before applying the product, antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found on one-quarter of the sampled sites. After its application, no such bacteria were found on any site for eight weeks. Past the eight-week mark, the level of bac- teria never returned to the levels recorded prior to applying SurfaceWise, ac- cording to the study. "Cleaning and disinfecting can effectively remove pathogens from surfaces, but studies have shown that more than half the time, surfaces are not ad- equately cleaned through traditional methods," said Charles P. Gerba, PhD, professor at the University of Arizona who conducted the tests performed by Allied BioScience. "Plus, these surfaces can be recontaminated within min- utes. The study of SurfaceWise has found this technology to continuously keep healthcare environments free of harmful pathogens for up to three months after application." Allied Bioscience sends technicians out to hospitals to apply the technology, which takes about 30 minutes per room. The company recommends hospi- tals reapply SurfaceWise every three months because normal daily cleaning of the surface can wear the product down. Overall, the new technology seems to be an additional measure hospitals can implement to keep patients even safer than before. "For the healthcare indus- try, it's an amazing added layer of protection," says Mr. Ruley. n 'Self-Cleaning' Surface Technology Reduces HAIs By Heather Punke SAVE THE DATE! Becker's Hospital Review Annual Meeting May 7-9, 2015 Swissôtel - Chicago, Illinois 153 Great Health System Executives Speaking 119 Sessions - 212 Speakers To learn more visit www.BeckersHospitalReview.com To register, visit www.regonline.com/hospitalreview6thannualmeeting

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