Improved cleaning of patient rooms using a new targeting method

We developed a new method using an invisible fluorescent marker to target standardized high-touch surfaces in hospital rooms. Evaluation of 1404 surface objects in 157 rooms in 3 hospitals revealed that 47% of targets had been cleaned. Educational interventions were implemented, leading to sustained improvement in cleaning of all objects and a > 2-fold improvement in cleaning of surfaces previously cleaned < 85% of the time (P <= .001).