Healthcare White Paper

The Challenge of HAIs for Hospital Leaders

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a significant threat to patient safety, financial performance, and hospital reputation. These infections increase patient morbidity, prolong hospital stays, and drive up healthcare costs—costing U.S. hospitals an estimated $28.4 to $45 billion annually.¹ C. difficile infections alone cost hospitals approximately $25,000 per case and contribute to Medicare penalties under the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program.² Under this CMS program, hospitals in the worst-performing quartile for hospital-acquired conditions—including HAIs—face up to a 1% reduction in overall Medicare reimbursements.⁵ Infection data is submitted quarterly through the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and publicly reported via the Care Compare platform.⁶

HAI rates are more than a clinical metric—they’re a reputational risk that influences public trust, media coverage, and competitive standing. Infection rates are publicly reported, scrutinized by The Joint Commission, and factored into hospital safety grades and rankings such as those from U.S. News & World Report and The Leapfrog Group.³^,⁴ In today’s digital age, infection concerns shared through online reviews or social media can rapidly erode confidence in a hospital’s brand. Persistent outbreaks may lead to unit closures, decreased referrals, and regulatory investigations, creating mounting pressure on hospital leadership to demonstrate a proactive infection control strategy.³^,⁴

Evolving the Response: From Manual to Modern 

Hospitals have traditionally relied on manual disinfection and hand hygiene to control infections. While important, these approaches leave room for human error and surface contamination. Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems, including UV-C and pulsed xenon, have been broadly adopted as a supplemental technology in hospitals across the U.S. Despite their popularity, their real-world efficacy is increasingly questioned. Studies report limitations in pathogen reduction due to UV's reliance on line-of-sight, poor shadow penetration, and the need for multiple repositionings.³^,⁵ In clinical settings, these shortcomings often result in inconsistent disinfection performance, particularly in cluttered or shadowed environments. In contrast, aerosolized hydrogen peroxide (aHP) systems provide uniform room coverage with higher germicidal efficacy and documented pathogen elimination.³^,⁶

Aerosolized Hydrogen Peroxide Comparison with UV Disinfection 

Why use Breezy Blue for aHP?

Breezy Blue™ delivers next-generation touchless disinfection using aHP to treat entire hospital rooms, including hard-to-reach areas—effectively overcoming the limitations of manual cleaning and UV systems. While UV struggles with shadowed areas and requires repeated repositioning, Breezy Blue uniformly fills a room with micron-sized droplets, ensuring consistent coverage without the need for operator intervention. It simplifies workflows for environmental services (EVS) staff and integrates with Breezy Cloud™ to provide verified compliance data.

Key Advantages of Breezy Blue

Clinical Efficacy: aHP is validated by peer-reviewed studies for its effectiveness against high-risk pathogens.

   - AJIC Study: Demonstrated >99.9999% reduction of C. difficile, MRSA, and VRE.⁷

   - Automated Disinfection Overview: Supported the superior coverage and efficacy of aHP systems over UV-C.⁸

   - SARS-CoV-2 Study: Showed 100% elimination of viral RNA from air and surfaces post-aHP treatment.⁹

   - Mold/Fungal Study: Verified elimination of Aspergillus spp. in healthcare settings.¹⁰

Ease of Use: One-button start, no manual repositioning, and no PPE required.

Total Coverage: Fills the entire room with uniform micron-sized aHP droplets.

Operational Efficiency: Thorough whole-room disinfection can be completed in less than 45 minutes, allowing hospital rooms to be turned over quickly.

Verified Compliance: Breezy Cloud tracks usage, treatment data, and generates audit-ready reports.

Applications within Healthcare

• Terminal cleaning and discharge turnover

• Isolation room disinfection

• Operating room and procedure suite bio-decontamination

• PACU, oncology, and long-term acute care units

• Outbreak containment and proactive deep cleaning

Disinfection Chemistry

Breezy Blue is used with EPA-registered, hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants such as Breezy BioCare™ RTU, Breezy BioPure™ RTU, and HaloMist®. When used with hospital-grade HaloMist, Breezy Blue offers broad efficacy (including C. difficile spores), is residue-free, and is safe for use on sensitive hospital equipment.¹¹

The Breezy Cloud™ Advantage

Breezy Cloud's automatic recording and other features include:

• Treatment location and operator

• Start and end time

• Disinfection validation and status

• Compliance logs for audits

• API integration with RTLS and hospital platforms

This supports hospital quality programs, Joint Commission readiness, and system-wide performance tracking. For example, Breezy Cloud provides exportable logs showing disinfection events by room and operator, treatment durations, and compliance trends over time—useful for both internal audits and CMS reporting.

Conclusion

HAIs pose a critical operational and reputational risk for hospitals. Breezy Blue and Breezy Cloud provide a proven, automated solution to modernize infection prevention with validated results, ease of use, and measurable ROI. For hospital leaders, this represents a strategic opportunity to improve safety, reduce costs, and protect institutional reputation.

References

1. Gidey, K., et al. “Clinical and economic burden of healthcare-associated infections: A prospective cohort study.” PLoS ONE, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949640/

2. Truitt, C. L., et al. “Evaluation of an aerosolized hydrogen peroxide disinfection system.” AJIC, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.11.021

3. The Leapfrog Group. Hospital Safety Grade methodology. https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/

4. U.S. News & World Report. Best Hospitals methodology. https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/faq-how-and-why-we-rank-and-rate-hospitals

5. CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality/value-based-programs/hospital-acquired-conditions

6. CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/index.html

7. Amodio, E.., et al. “Disinfecting noncritical medical equipment with aerosolized hydrogen peroxide.” AJIC, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32464292/

8. Otter, J. A., et al. “An overview of automated room disinfection systems.” J Hosp Infect, 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7152068/

9. Alnimr, A., et al. “Environmental Deposition of SARS-CoV-2: Role of Aerosolized Hydrogen Peroxide.” Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S336085

10. Triggiano, F., et al. “No-Touch Automated Disinfection System Based on Hydrogen Peroxide and Ethyl Alcohol Aerosols for Use in Healthcare Environments.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9029184/
    

11. HaloMist SDS. Quip Laboratories. https://halosil.com/products/halomist/

For more information

Chris Ziomek, CEO of Breezy Med
info@breezymed.com
833-273-3568

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