CASE STUDY: Infection Rates Drop After Adding Disinfecting Equipment

Contributed by Xenex.

Unity Health’s White County Medical Center was the first hospital in Arkansas to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a network of health care providers committed to better serving patients and their families through collaboration, and is the only hospital in Arkansas to receive the prestigious Governor’s Quality Award twice. As evidence of its commitment to patient safety, White County Medical Center was one of the first hospitals in Arkansas to adopt Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots for room disinfection as its environmental standard of care.

The facility is currently using three LightStrike robots to disinfect over 30 rooms per day in four targeted units as well as the Operating Rooms (after the day’s procedures have been completed). Using a high intensity, pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light, the robots quickly and effectively disinfect patient rooms of hard to kill pathogens such as Clostridium difficile (C. diff), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).  If these microscopic pathogens are missed by manual cleaning, they can linger on surfaces in the patient environment for up to 6 months and pose a risk to patients and hospital employees.

“With the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, we decided to investigate the newest technologies to keep our hospital clean and our patients safe. After reviewing the clinical evidence, we chose the LightStrike pulsed xenon UV robots which are operated by our environmental services team. We are very pleased to report that we have seen an 85 percent reduction in infection rates since implementing our three robots,” said Meghann Holmes, Infection Preventionist at White County Medical Center.

According to Unity Health, the 85 percent reduction in infection rates has resulted in a cost savings of $528,714 for the facility and more than paid for the cost of the three robots.

As superbugs such as C. diff, MRSA, and VRE become more difficult to kill, hospitals are increasingly turning to pulsed xenon UV disinfection technology to help them keep their hospitals free of dangerous microorganisms. Numerous healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. have credited the LightStrike robots in peer-reviewed, published studies for helping them reduce their C.diff, MRSA and Surgical Site Infection rates 46 percent - 100 percent.

In response to their commitment to patient safety, Xenex has proudly designated White County Medical Center as a Visionary Hospital. 

“We are honored to be their partner,” says Irene Hahn, vice president of sales and account management for Xenex.  “And we have proudly designated them as a Visionary Hospital for their great work in infection prevention.”

According to Xenex, Visionary Hospitals are defined as hospitals that 1. Make patient safety a top priority; 2. Seek out and implement technologies with multiple proven outcomes published in peer reviewed publications; 3. Follow manufacturer recommended best practices; 4. Publicize and share results to improve best practices for all hospitals; 5. Openly share their data for their benefit and the benefit of all mankind.