Up high, down low

Dear readers,

Some of you may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about a proposal to ban handshakes in healthcare settings to reduce the spread of disease. I’ve recently heard of a new study that found that handshakes transferred more than five times as much bacteria as fist bumps. High-fives fell somewhere between fist bumps and handshakes.

The findings aren’t surprising but I’m still not ready to give up shaking hands, especially if fist bumping is the best alternative. I could never get into the habit of fist bumping. But high-fives? I love them. I propose we immediately adopt high-fives as our go-to greeting. I’ve pretty much been doing that since the 1990s. Your thoughts?

Son Hoang, editor, Medical Staff Leader Insider