Prevention Matters

Soap-sniffing technology that makes sure hospital employees wash their hands was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while a trend whereby people are cutting back on health care spending to save money was named the "Worst Prevention Idea of the week."

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters, the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.


BEST

Soap-sniffing technology encourages hospital staff to wash hands

Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands. By reminding workers to clean their hands to remove disease-causing organisms such as the bacteria MRSA, the system could help reduce hospital-acquired infections and save millions of dollars now spent to treat them.



WORST

More people skimping on health care to save money

In a recent survey, 73 percent of doctors said more patients are cutting prescription dosages to save money, while 60 percent say they have seen more health problems caused by patients skipping preventive care and 58 percent report more canceled appointments.