Crothall partners with 3M to implement effective infection control

Crothall Healthcare, a premier provider of support services to healthcare clients, announced its Preferred Partnership arrangement with 3M to kick-off its powerfully enhanced approach to infection control. Crothall Environmental Services teams will use a hand-held 3M™ Clean-Trace™ NG Luminometer to measure ATP (adenosine triphosphate) bioluminescense—the resulting reaction of organic material on the ATP swab—on small surface areas. Testing a series of identified "high touch" areas, such as light switches and sink faucets, will immediately reveal if disinfection practices are effective. 3M flexible data trending software is also supplied to determine trending within the results.  

While the use of ATP monitors in healthcare facilities is not new, Crothall is the first contract cleaning provider to build this level of measurable verification into its standard quality assurance program.  "Providing the 3M™ Clean-Trace™ ATP inspection for our clients represents a significant investment in quality assurance," said Crothall President Tom Racobaldo. "We believe this technology will allow our Environmental Services teams to provide a decisive advantage to their hospitals' infection control efforts."

Rich Feczko, Crothall's National Director of System and Standards, spearheaded the company's research for a valid infection containment test through a product review committee composed of specialists in environmental services. A testing period at a few hospitals validated the product's effectiveness, and Feczko was cleared to begin initial implementation of the 3M™ Clean-Trace™ System.  While Luminometers and ATP testing kits are being rolled out to onsite teams, Crothall's systems and standards are being fully adapted to integrate the testing procedure.

"We have hard-wired the ATP high-touch tests into our Quality Audit," said Feczko, "and embraced this technology as a means of measuring the effectiveness of our standardized cleaning processes." Training, testing procedures, and scoring thresholds for satisfactory outcomes have been clearly outlined, and information will be reported to regional management via TeamCoach, Crothall Healthcare's proprietary web-based software.