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What is a Targeted Solutions Tool?

The Targeted Solutions Tool® (TST®) is an online application that guides health care organizations through a step-by-step process to accurately measure their organization’s true performance level, identify the causes of performance failures, and direct them to proven solutions that are customized to address their particular causes. A TST module is available for improving hand hygiene.

How TST Works

The web-based TST uses Robust Process Improvement® (RPI®) methodology in its design and structure without requiring any formal training. RPI is a fact-based, systematic and data-driven problem-solving approach that incorporates tools and concepts from Lean Six Sigma and formal change management methodologies. RPI tools have the depth and breadth to tackle complex and persistent problems in health care, such as hand hygiene failures and their effect on healthcare-acquired infections. You do not need RPI training or expertise to use the TST module.

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Hand Hygiene

An estimated two million patients contract a healthcare-acquired infection every year and 99,000 die from their infection. Hand hygiene is critically important to reducing healthcare-acquired infection. Unfortunately, studies show that health care workers wash their hands less than 50 percent of the time.
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What It Does

The Hand Hygiene Targeted Solutions Tool® (TST®) provides the foundation and framework of an improvement method that, if implemented well, will improve an organization’s hand hygiene compliance rate and contribute substantially to its efforts to reduce the frequency of health care associated infections.

The Hand Hygiene TST is an innovative web-based application designed to help health care organizations understand barriers to successful hand hygiene and to implement evidence-based solutions that lead to reductions in health care-acquired infections. Organizations have been using the Hand Hygiene TST for over a decade and we have used that data to project benefit estimates of prevented HAIs, lives saved and costs incurred.

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How the Hand Hygiene TST Works

The Hand Hygiene TST uses Robust Process Improvement® (RPI®) methodology in its design and structure. RPI is a fact-based, systematic and data-driven problem-solving approach that incorporates tools and concepts from Lean Six Sigma and formal change management methodologies. The Hand Hygiene TST can guide organizations like yours through a step-by-step process to: accurately measure your organization’s actual performance, identify your barriers to success, and direct you to proven solutions that are customized to address your organization’s particular needs.

Reduce Healthcare-Acquired Infections

Our Hand Hygiene TST can help your organization increase hand hygiene compliance and decrease health care-acquired infections in just 12 weeks. The hospitals that participated in the Hand Hygiene improvement initiative, and health care organizations that have used the Hand Hygiene TST, both show dramatic improvements in hand hygiene compliance.

For example, a typical 200-bed hospital who use the Hand Hygiene TST can:

  • Prevent 130-140 healthcare-associated infections
  • Prevent eight deaths
  • Avoid annual medical costs of $2.3 to 2.8 million

*The use of Joint Commission Resources consultative technical or advisory services is not necessary to obtain a Joint Commission Accreditation award, nor does it influence the granting of such awards.

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