Parker Health Group is the Gold recipient of McKnight’s Tech Awards for Skilled Nursing in the Quality category. The McKnight’s Tech Award recognizes how technology is used in big and small ways to improve the lives of older adults and those who care for them. Parker Health Group is a non-profit organization based in New Jersey that specializes in aging services and long-term care with over 100 years’ experience.
Long-term care residents often have a higher risk of infection due to health issues and a variety of treatment factors that can leave them more vulnerable. According to the World Health Organization, hand hygiene is the most important and effective protocol to control the spread of organisms which can lead to life-threatening infections.
To proactively address this concern, Parker’s clinical care team set the objective of deploying an organization-wide hand hygiene solution to achieve sustainable positive change in caregiver hand hygiene resulting in the reduction of healthcare acquired infections, enhanced patient quality of life, and an improvement in safety for residents and staff.
BioVigil’s Hand Hygiene Solution was deployed across Parkers’ five communities in early 2021. BioVigil technology supports Parker’s compliance and infection control efforts by monitoring hand hygiene opportunities, intervening and educating care partners at the point of care, and influencing behavior to improve and sustain hand hygiene performance.
Parker Health Group was chosen as the Gold winner for achieving overall hand-hygiene compliance at or above 95%, staff time savings and efficiency versus direct observation, and positive feedback from care partners and family members for commitment to safety and quality for the last 17 months. These outcomes also improved resident, family, and care partner satisfaction and experience.
“I am very proud of our organization for this achievement,” shared Carolyn Bachonski, Parker’s Chief Clinical Officer. “BioVigil’s technology has made a significant impact on reducing in-house acquired infections thanks to the increase in compliance with hand hygiene opportunities by the staff.”
Sanjay Gupta, BioVigil President and CEO, is pleased Parker Health Group won the Gold award: “Parker Health Group is deserving, not only because they over-achieved their outcomes, but also their overall commitment to resident and staff safety. Rather than focusing solely on compliance, the team set a high bar in creating a culture of safety by focusing on engaging and educating, and communicating the value of hand hygiene to residents and staff.”