Arbogast, James W.Moore-Schiltz, LauraJarvis, William R.Harpster-Hagen, AmandaHughes, JillianParker, Albert E.2016-08-312016-08-312016-06Arbogast, James W., Laura Moore-Schiltz, William R. Jarvis, Amanda Harpster-Hagen, Jillian Hughes, and Albert Parker. "Impact of a Comprehensive Workplace Hand Hygiene Program on Employer Health Care Insurance Claims and Costs, Absenteeism, and Employee Perceptions and Practices." JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE 58, no. 6 (June 2016): E231-E240. DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000738.1536-5948https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/10005The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a multi-modal hand hygiene intervention program in reducing health care insurance claims for hygiene preventable infections (eg, cold and influenza), absenteeism, and subjective impact on employees. Methods: A 13.5-month prospective, randomized cluster controlled trial was executed with alcohol-based hand sanitizer in strategic workplace locations and personal use (intervention group) and brief hand hygiene education (both groups). Four years of retrospective data were collected for all participants. Results: Hygiene-preventable health care claims were significantly reduced in the intervention group by over 20% (P<0.05). Absenteeism was positively impacted overall for the intervention group. Employee survey data showed significant improvements in hand hygiene behavior and perception of company concern for employee well-being. Conclusion: Providing a comprehensive, targeted, yet simple to execute hand hygiene program significantly reduced the incidence of health care claims and increased employee workplace satisfaction.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcodeArticle