Measured Impact
Hand Hygiene Compliance Growth in a Clinical Setting Using the Buddy Badge
Over 90%
Over 60%
Less than 20%
After Buddy Badge
(2021)
Before Buddy Badge
(2016)
After Hand Hygiene Hero Reward Program
(2023)
Hand Hygiene Compliance of a Nursing Unit
Measured Impact
Hand Hygiene Compliance Growth in a Clinical Setting Using the Buddy Badge
The Buddy Badge has delivered a significant and sustained improvement in hand hygiene compliance within a hospital unit. Before its introduction in 2016, compliance rates were below 20%. By 2021, after implementation of the Buddy Badge, compliance rose to over 60%. With the addition of the Hand Hygiene Hero reward program in 2023, compliance climbed even further, consistently reaching over 90%. This measured impact demonstrates how the Buddy Badge not only improves performance but also helps build a lasting culture of prevention and accountability in healthcare.
349%
Increase in Hand Hygiene Compliance with the Buddy Badge System ™
1,000,000+
Hand Hygiene Opportunities Captured
1000+
Engaged Users
10+
Installed Locations
349%
Increase in Hand Hygiene Compliance with the Buddy Badge System ™
1,000,000+
Hand Hygiene Opportunities Captured
1000+
Engaged Users
10+
Installed Locations
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Proven to raise hand hygiene compliance up to four times higher than baseline.
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In hospitals, compliance has been sustained at over 90% for more than three years.
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Transforms hand hygiene from a task into a habit and shared culture.
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Staff engagement programs, such as the Hero Reward Program, have created environments where compliance feels both rewarding and visible.
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Families and residents feel reassured when they see badges glowing green, knowing staff are clean and infection risks are reduced.
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Enables healthcare leaders to track and act on real compliance data instead of relying on biased manual audits.
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Provides actionable insights that have led to targeted coaching and measurable performance improvements at the unit and organizational level.
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Has supported facilities in achieving compliance gains of 60–80 percentage points compared to pre-implementation.
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Demonstrated reductions in cross-contamination risks across hospitals, long-term care, food service, and congregate settings.
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Creates a safer environment that gives patients, residents, and families peace of mind.
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Supports organizations in preventing outbreaks and protecting vulnerable populations.
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impacts of the system
Clients Testimonials
“ Hygienic Echo has been an outstanding partner in the Buddy Badge project, bringing creativity, research rigor, and a deep understanding of healthcare environments. Their thoughtful approach has helped the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) explore new ways to strengthen connection and psychological safety among staff, while also offering an innovative platform to support and monitor hand hygiene compliance—an essential pillar of patient and staff safety. ”
Carla Girolametto
Director of Research Operations
Delivering a platform to support and monitor hand hygiene compliance while strengthening connection and psychological safety among staff—grounded in deep understanding of healthcare environments.
“ At Sunnybrook, we recently rolled out the Buddy Badge system with Hygienic Echo, and the experience has been excellent. As a Canadian company, Hygienic Echo has been incredibly responsive, and the implementation was smooth. The dashboards and customizable data have been especially helpful in supporting our infection prevention and control efforts. We highly recommend them as a partner in advancing hand hygiene initiatives.”
Heather Candon
Director, Infection Prevention and Control
Smooth implementation and empowering IPAC teams with customizable dashboards and actionable data to support infection prevention and control efforts.
“ Our experience with Buddy Badge has demonstrated that, with the reminders and incentives that Buddy Badge uses to promote, improve and sustain hand hygiene practices, it is possible for most healthcare providers to achieve near 100% performance for prolonged periods of time. ”
Dr. Matthew Muller
Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control
enabling healthcare providers to sustain near-100% hand hygiene performance through effective system of reminders and incentives
“Families ask a lot why our badges glow green when we walk in and they love that it means we can all see that we are clean”
Vicky MacLean
Clinical Lead for Medicine
Glowing green badges reassure families that staff have clean hands.
“Buddy Badge helps the staff to be mindful of hand hygiene. The prompt avoids missing critical opportunities to keep our patients safe.”
Sylvie Robinson
Unit Manager
Reducing critical missed hand hygiene opportunities to enhance patient safety.
“ The Buddy Badge system electronically captures data on hand hygiene compliance and also provides prompts and reminders to modify hand hygiene behaviour at the same time!
Just like seatbelts sometimes we need the reminder to prompt us to put it on, the Buddy Badge does the exact same thing using vibration and/or a red light which has resulted in amazing improvement in hand hygiene behaviours and compliance! “
Shelley Schmidt
Director Infection Prevention and Control
Capturing hand hygiene compliance with accurate electronic data and improving hand hygiene behavior through real-time prompts and reminders.
“ Infection can spread in high traffic areas like the dining room during meal service. Serving staff wear Green Badges during meal/serving times. The badge will be green to show that hands are clean. Servers are then encouraged to sanitize their hands every 15 minutes for the green light to stay on. The staff and residents are having fun with it! Residents are quick to point out when a badge is green and if a staff member has forgotten to put it on. ”
MARIE OJHA
Owner and Nurse Practitioner
Reducing infection risk in high-traffic dining and serving areas, and encouraging regular hand hygiene through interactive 15-minute reminders.