Medical & Health Facilities

Patients and families have a need to be reassured that when they have to spend time in a hospital facility, they’re not going to get worse.

 

With newly admitted patients having an increased risk of acquiring the previous patient’s pathogen by 39-353% [1], providing assurance to them and hospital staff of the safest and healthiest environment possible is critical.

 

Utilizing ActivePure® is a proven effective way to greatly reduce the infection and cross-contamination rates continuously in the entire facility while promoting a healthy Green environment. One that actively works to help reduce the spread of infections 24/7, reduces employee absenteeism, and saves valuable time all with low maintenance products and low operating costs.

 

ActivePure® is also extremely powerful against odors, allergens, smoke and asthma issues. Patients often notice a marked improvement in their breathing, sleeping, and lung capacity as well as an increase in O2 levels. Relief is often noticed within hours of having ActivePure® installed.

Comparison Analysis

TECHNOLOGY Ultraviolet (UV/UV-C) Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor (HPV) ActivePure® (RCI)
Demonstrated to Reduce HAIs Yes Yes Yes
Surface & Equipment Decontamination Yes Yes Yes
Airborne Particle Decontamination (VOCs) Partial N/A Yes
Effectiveness (% reduction in EIPs) up to 10-30% 64-80% up to 99.9%*
Equipment Costs (each unit) $60,000 - $100,000 $2100* $600 - $2800
Consumable Products No Yes No
Kill Time 5 - 50 min. 3.5 hrs. Immediate
Treatment While Occupied No No Yes
Terminal vs. Daily Cleaning Terminal Terminal Daily
Used Throughout HVAC System No No Yes
GREEN - Chemical & Toxin Free No No Yes
Effectively Eliminates Odors No No Yes
Continuous Treatment No No Yes
Training Required Yes Yes No
HVAC Disabling & Room Seal Requirement No Yes No

Hospital Acquired Infections

The administrative and financial burden on hospitals from Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) reach far beyond the cost of infection control measures and equipment. The increase in inpatient days, readmission, associated costs, and higher morbidity rates cannot be denied. Furthermore, many States now mandate public reporting to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) by hospitals of HAI rates, possibly decreasing payments from Medicare or other potential pay-for-performance measures.

 

Outside of the morbidity rates due to HAIs (an estimated 90,000 deaths annually), the overall direct cost to hospitals ranges from $28 billion to $45 billion. [2] The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has stopped paying for select preventable complications, and [as of 2016], the federal government [was projected to] cut 769 hospitals’ Medicare payments in fiscal year 2017 for having the highest rates of hospital-acquired conditions. [That was] the first year the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, in the form of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile infections, was included in the assessment. [3]

Current Strategies & Limitations

Ultraviolet light treatment has been shown to work well for disinfection of small areas, but not in central ventilation systems. Additionally, the indoor environment may be contaminated with low levels of toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, styrene, and toluene. Ultraviolet energy does not work well in degrading these chemicals. [4] UV/UV-C systems have been proven to reduce contaminants by 10-30% [5], but requires downtime for the room, employee training, considerable equipment costs, and can only be used for terminal disinfection when no one is in the room.

 

Utilizing ActivePure® is a proven effective way to greatly reduce the infection and cross-contamination rates continuously in the entire facility while promoting a healthy Green environment. One that actively works to help reduce the spread of infections 24/7, reduces employee absenteeism, and saves valuable time all with low maintenance products and low operating costs.

'Because we are not effectively removing the contaminants on a daily basis from patient rooms and those contaminants in those rooms can be a mechanism of transfer of pathogens from the surfaces to patients and can, of course, increase risk of transmission of healthcare associated infections. We would like to have a continually active room decontamination system, so essentially, it continually inactivates organisms and it doesn't interfere with patient care. All people can enter. Staff can enter, patients can be there, and of course, visitors can enter.'

- Dr. William A. Rutala, Ph.D., M.P.H. {1}

For more in-depth analysis, please request a copy of our White Paper.

References

[1] Rutala, William A., PhD, MPH (2017) Disinfection and Sterilization: What’s New? APIC 2017 44th Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, USA, June 14-16, 2017.

 

[2] Stone, Patricia W. PhD, FAAN (2009) Economic burden of healthcare associated infections: an American perspective, Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research Vol. 9, Issue 5. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827870/#R7

 

[3] Haefner, Morgan (2016) 769 hospitals see Medicare payments cut over high HAC rates: 7 things to know. Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality. Retrieved from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/ 769-hospitals-see-medicare- payments-cut-over-high-hac-rates-7-things-to-know.html

[4 Goswami, D. Yogi (2003) Decontamination of Ventilation Systems Using Photocatalytic Air Cleaning Technology, Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 125(3), pp. 359-365. Retrieved from http://solarenergyengineering.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/article.aspx?articleid=1456830

 

[5] Deverick J. Anderson, Luke F. Chen, David J. Weber, Rebekah W. Moehring, Sarah S. Lewis, Patricia F. Triplett, Michael Blocker, Paul Becherer, Conrad Schwab, Lauren P. Knelson, Yuliya Lokhnygina, William A. Rutala, Hajime Kanamori, Maria F. Gergen, Daniel J. Sexton, for the CDC Prevention Epicenters Program. (2017) Enhanced terminal room disinfection and acquisition and infection caused by multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile (the Benefits of Enhanced Terminal Room Disinfection study): a cluster-randomized, multicenter, crossover study. The Lancet, Vol. 389, No. 10071, pp 805-814. Retrieved from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31588-4/fulltext

The information on this page is a compilation of supporting references and is not an independent test of the efficacy of ActivePure® Technology or its products.  The views expressed herein are those of The Krah Corp. LLC and do not constitute an endorsement by any of the individuals quoted or cited herein.

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