In the news: Hospitals upping surveillance efforts to improve hand-washing compliance with ARRA funds

Maryland hospitals are applying their American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds toward secret shoppers to gauge just how much physicians and other healthcare workers comply with hand hygiene recommendations, according to a recent article in American Medical News. Hospitals elsewhere are investing in surveillance cameras that record activity at sinks and hand sanitizing stations. The article states that although tight surveillance often helps increase compliance, some skeptics are worried that if the data collected through surveillance are used against individual practitioners, efforts could backfire.