Floyd Medical Center has been honored for its continuing campaign to reduce hospital acquired infections.

The effort to increase hand hygiene compliance and reduce infections earned Floyd the Brilliance Award from Vizient Southern States.

Floyd Medical Center had implemented a number of different interventions to measure and increase hand hygiene compliance and reduce hospital acquired infections (HAIs). After these attempts did not yield the compliance results desired, the hospital implemented a pilot program using electronic hand hygiene monitoring technology. As a result, HAIs decreased by 75 percent.

The Brilliance Awards are a way for Vizient to honor its highest achieving members, said Bill Senneff, president and CEO of Vizient Southern States.

More than 580 health care providers submitted abstracts in the hopes of presenting at the 2019 Vizient Connections Education Summit, held in Las Vegas in September. Fewer than 20 percent were chosen, including Floyd.

“Congratulations, you did a terrific job," Senneff said during a visit to Rome on Wednesday. Terry Johnson, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Vizient, presented the award to Floyd's Linda Huddleston, RN, MSN, CIC, CJCP, Director of Infection Prevention.

“Patient safety is a priority here at Floyd," said Huddleston. “The reduction in hospital-acquired infections shows we are moving in the right direction, and we will continue our efforts to prevent infections entirely."

Founded in 1982, Vizient supports not-for-profit hospitals' mission to provide a broad spectrum of health services and to be responsive to the needs of the communities they serve.