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The HEPACART Blog

Infection Control Trend: Hospital UV Disinfection


Hospital disinfection is a critical topic in infection control. Without the standards of disinfection -- from hand washing to scrubs to proper ventilation -- hospitals would be the dens of illness and disease that they once were. Today, patients feel secure that they will not get more sick by going to a hospital and their families are willing and able to visit them safely as well.

But just because disinfection has improved does not mean that it is as good as it can be. Hospital UV disinfection is one frontier that healthcare facilities have only begun to explore. Is this type of disinfection a trend or is it here to stay?

 

A Need for Consistency

Hospitals need disinfection procedures that are reliable. Manual disinfection can certainly be effective, but the problem is that no matter how explicit the standard procedure is, no two rooms will ever be cleaned to exactly the same specifications. Human error will always be part of the manual disinfection process. By utilizing UV disinfection, it becomes much easier for the disinfection process to be consistent from room to room, further protecting patients and facilities from healthcare-associated infections.

 

Hospital UV Disinfection as Supplemental

The importance of lower HAI rates has only increased over the past few years. Anything that facilities can do to decrease these rates effectively is on the table, and UV disinfection is certainly one of those things. In many cases, UV disinfection will never replace standard operating procedures and instead can be used as a supplemental method to manual cleaning, making it an attractive tool in infection control for facilities managers. One study using UV-C treatment recently found that “UV light disinfection was effective on both vertical and horizontal surfaces and that the results reinforced the need for a comprehensive cleaning solution (i.e., EPA-registered surface disinfectants along UV light disinfection).”

Because UV disinfection can easily be used alongside standard procedures while facilities measure and note its effectiveness for themselves, it is likely a trend that will become a common practice rather than a flash in the pan.

 

Emphasis on Efficiency

Hospitals rely on efficient technology that does not compromise the patient experience. Hospitals need to be able to clean patient rooms effectively, minimize the risk of healthcare-associated infections, and make the best use of their staff. This emphasis on efficiency makes hospital UV disinfection a trend that is likely to stick around. Far-UVC technology in particular disinfects the air quickly, efficiently, and safely. When consistent, reliable disinfection can happen quickly, hospitals can accommodate more patients, lower HAI rates and contribute to a happier, healthier community.

If you want to learn more about how different types of UV light operate differently in the context of disinfection, be sure to download our presentation below.

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Click here to learn about our UV-FORCE® technology. Using far-UVC light, it can destroy pathogens smaller than <.3 microns, which are more likely to penetrate a HEPA-filter, and it can clean the air up to 99.99% in less than a second.

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