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134 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Successfully Choosing New Hand Hygiene Products: 4 Key Points By Heather Punke H ospitals opt to change hand hygiene products for a variety of reasons, in- cluding the opportunity to upgrade the quality of soap or sanitizer while saving money or finding a product compatible with new electronic dispensers. But finding the right product can be a daunting task, especial- ly when guidance is scarce. An article in the American Journal of Infection Control rectifies the issue, as infection control professionals from a Canadian hospital out- lines key steps to a successful hand hygiene product switch. Here are four of those steps. 1. Evaluate available options. e au- thors recommend using the following criteria to find the right product: quality, safety, ser- viceability, standardization, cost, availability of touch-free dispensers and capability of dispensers to interact with electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring. "Touch-free dispensers are generally preferred by staff and have been shown to improve hand hygiene compliance," the authors wrote. 2. Connect with a GPO. Group purchas- ing organizations are mainstays in the hospi- tal supply chain arena, and GPOs tend to have researched and reviewed several products be- fore making them available on their contract. Hospitals should connect with their GPO ear- ly in the process to ensure no delays in plan- ning or implementation. 3. Gain stakeholder input. Change isn't always easy, but it can be easier when stake- holders feel involved in the process. "Eliciting product selection input from various stake- holders upfront will help to assure the success of the process and is known to assist in driving overall hand hygiene practice and compliance once implemented," according to the article. Stakeholders include infection prevention personnel, point-of-care staff, the installation company, the hand hygiene product vendor, housekeeping staff, facilities management staff, purchasing department and the GPO. 4. Map out dispenser locations. "In a facility with a significant footprint, meticu- lously mapping dispenser locations is very im- portant for keeping the project on track," the authors wrote. "A multidisciplinary approach, directly involving front-line staff, to analyze workflow patterns on a unit-by-unit basis is best in order to guide safe and convenient product placement and will ultimately assist in driving hand hygiene compliance." n Wayne State May Lose 37 Medical School Faculty Members By Erin Dietsche D etroit-based Wayne State University School of Medicine could be down 37 faculty members due to retirement and termination, according to The Detroit News. The news was revealed via a letter to faculty members from Dean Jack Sobel, MD. Eighteen faculty members have "agreed to retire, accept phased retirement or received notice of nonrenewal of their contract," according to Dr. Sobel's letter. Eleven others were recommended for dismissal from their positions. Eight more chose to take part in separation agreements. Most of these eight planned to stay on staff at Wayne State until after Sept. 1. These 37 members were part of the 700 researchers in the medical school's basic sciences and clinical departments, according to Charles Parrish, PhD, president of the Ameri- can Association of University Professors-AFT Michigan Local 6075. Dr. Sobel's letter came after Wayne State warned facul- ty members of the consequences of their unproductive habits in March. "Too many of our faculty [members] have been unproductive for many years," Dr. Sobel and David Hefner, Wayne State's vice president for health affairs, wrote in a letter to 527 faculty members. "They have been allowed to consume needed resources totaling many millions of dollars." Mr. Hefner claimed between 60 and 80 faculty members were categorized as unproductive, and he and Dr. Sobel asked them to boost their research products and increase the number of patients they see. But Dr. Parrish claimed productivity levels are not entirely based on faculty members themselves. "The way admin- istration defines productivity, they define it based on how much research money you bring in," he said. "It's harder to get grants ... It's a complex situation. Some people who have contributed a lot are on the list." Although the 37 faculty members were not named in the report, Dr. Sobel said the cuts were "a critical and nec- essary step toward allowing our many productive faculty members to thrive, and will result in our emerging stron- ger as one of the nation's most robust urban medical col- leges and centers of research," according to the report. n