Dive Brief:

• There is no statistically significant difference in rates of infection for four hospital-acquired infections if high-cost antiseptic washcloths are used on ICU patients, says a new study.
• Specifically, researchers say bathing hospital ICU patients daily with disposable washcloths containing chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) doesn't prevent four types of hospital-acquired infections any more than bathing patients without the antimicrobial cloths.
• This conclusion is based on a study of antimicrobial wipes in 10,000 patients treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center over the course of 12 months. 

Dive Insight:

If hospitals are looking for easy ways to cut costs, studies like these are worthy of attention (and if costs of wipes are being passed on to consumers, it's especially important to take a hard look). Arthur Wheeler, MD, a Vanderbilt professor of pulmonary care medicine and critical care and the study's senior author, did a good job of putting this into perspective when he noted that, "if a hospital is talking about spending $200,000, $500,000 or $700,000 a year on this treatment, our study should give them pause to reconsider that decision."