{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01967799642218247, 'fraction_numerical': 0.013416815742397137, 'mean_word_length': 5.394285714285714, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Public reporting of hospital hand hygiene compliance--helpful or harmful?

PUBLIC REPORTING OF HOSPITAL PERFORMANCE HAS been proposed as a means of improving quality of care while ensuring both transparency and accountability. Organizations feel pressure to perform well, deriving from their desire to protect market share and defend reputations. This pressure, if effectively harnessed, can lead to an increase in quality improvement activities and better patient outcomes, although the evidence supporting the latter claim is mixed. In 2002, it was estimated that approximately 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and 99 000 HAIrelated deaths occurred in the United States each year. Hand hygiene is considered the most important strategy to prevent HAIs. Since 2002, an increasing number of US states have mandated public reporting of quality indicators related to HAI prevention; to date, none have included reports of hand hygiene compliance in their mandates. This Commentary suggests the need for caution by states considering publicly reporting hand hygiene compliance as a mechanism to reduce HAI.